Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Connecticut · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Fairfield County had 18 maple operations and 2,864 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Danbury, sap usually runs from February 8 to March 21. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 125 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 8
typical year
Season ends
Mar 21
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
46.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,864
#7 of 8 in CT

Sap-flow outlook at Danbury right now

Full Connecticut forecast →

Forecast for Danbury, CT

Updated Oct 6, 3:07 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    34° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    49° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 68°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Danbury

Freeze-thaw weather at Danbury peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 30, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 8 – Mar 210246Week of Dec 1: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 8
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Danbury, 1991–2026. A sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Feb 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 7 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 9 (2023), latest Mar 11 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 21; middle half between Mar 10 and Mar 29. Earliest Feb 13 (2023), latest Apr 12 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan18%Feb23%Mar27%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Fairfield County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Danbury was 2012 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 26. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20262026: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 44 sap days4420252025: Feb 10 – Mar 10, 37 sap days3720242024: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 35 sap days3520232023: Jan 9 – Feb 13, 49 sap days4920222022: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 42 sap days4220202020: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 56 sap days5620192019: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 48 sap days4820182018: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 49 sap days4920172017: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 50 sap days5020162016: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 38 sap days3820142014: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 46 sap days4620132013: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 50 sap days5020122012: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 64 sap days6420112011: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 34 sap days3420092009: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4820082008: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 58 sap days5820072007: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 46 sap days4620062006: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 52 sap days5220052005: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 48 sap days4820042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920032003: Feb 23 – Mar 20, 26 sap days2620022002: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 57 sap days5720012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620002000: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 44 sap days4419991999: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 51 sap days5119981998: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 49 sap days4919971997: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 51 sap days5119951995: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 48 sap days4819931993: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 49 sap days4919921992: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 47 sap days4719911991: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 55 sap days55
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Danbury. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Fairfield County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Fairfield County the 2022 Census found 18 farms making syrup (+13% since 2017), with taps +52% and syrup output +152% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.12 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Fairfield County ranks 231 by taps.

Fairfield County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022182,8645900.21
2017161,8812340.12

Nearby

Neighboring maple counties

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each county's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the PRISM 4-km grid cell at Danbury (545ft), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. Each season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits five weeks before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. Tested against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates, the rule lands within 5.5 days of the reported close and 6.6 days of the reported opening on average, and the typical dates shown here are scaled to Connecticut's USDA record (8 years). Production figures are copied from the Census as published. Full method, calibration tables and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 6

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Connecticut, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu
  3. 3.Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) web services · NOAA Regional Climate Centers
  4. 4.USDA NASS maple syrup reports — approximate average season opened and closed dates, 2011–2022 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. 5.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  6. 6.GeoNames gazetteer (cities500), CC BY 4.0 · GeoNames

FAQ

Fairfield County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Fairfield County, Connecticut?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 8 near Danbury and the season winds down around March 21. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of freezing nights and 40 °F days. In the past 36 seasons the weather signal came as early as Jan 9 and as late as Mar 11.
How much maple syrup does Fairfield County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 18 maple operations in Fairfield County with 2,864 taps producing 590 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 8 Connecticut's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Fairfield County get in a season?
On average 46.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Danbury, of which about 18.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Danbury (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Connecticut. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Fairfield County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play