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Connecticut · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Middlesex County, Connecticut

Middlesex County had 20 maple operations and 11,048 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Connecticut. Around Middletown, sap usually runs from February 6 to March 20. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 123 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 6
typical year
Season ends
Mar 20
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
48.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
11,048
#3 of 8 in CT

Sap-flow outlook at Middletown right now

Full Connecticut forecast →

Forecast for Middletown, 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
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    49° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    47° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 70°
    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 Middletown

Freeze-thaw weather at Middletown peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 50% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 6 – Mar 200246Week of Dec 1: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.2 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Middletown, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 4 and Feb 22. Earliest Jan 11 (2023), latest Mar 9 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 20; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 27. Earliest Feb 13 (2023), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec25%Jan20%Feb23%Mar25%Apr6%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Middlesex County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Middletown was 2008 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 30. 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, 48 sap days4820252025: Feb 10 – Mar 10, 43 sap days4320242024: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 40 sap days4020232023: Jan 11 – Feb 13, 50 sap days5020222022: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 41 sap days4120212021: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 47 sap days4720202020: Jan 23 – Feb 24, 50 sap days5020192019: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 52 sap days5220182018: Jan 26 – Feb 27, 54 sap days5420172017: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 48 sap days4820162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 42 sap days4220152015: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 37 sap days3720142014: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 44 sap days4420132013: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 54 sap days5420122012: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 58 sap days5820112011: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3820102010: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 38 sap days3820092009: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 49 sap days4920082008: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 64 sap days6420072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 55 sap days5520062006: Feb 6 – Mar 9, 49 sap days4920052005: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 49 sap days4920042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 45 sap days4520032003: Feb 23 – Mar 20, 30 sap days3020022002: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 59 sap days5920012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 48 sap days4820002000: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 49 sap days4919991999: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 55 sap days5519981998: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 52 sap days5219971997: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 58 sap days5819961996: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 60 sap days6019941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 50 sap days5019921992: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 49 sap days4919911991: Feb 9 – Mar 16, 61 sap days61
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Middletown. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Middlesex County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Middlesex County the 2022 Census found 20 farms making syrup (+82% since 2017), with taps +53% and syrup output +48% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.19 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Middlesex County ranks 127 by taps.

Middlesex County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222011,0482,0440.18
2017117,2441,3790.19

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 Middletown (144ft), 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

Middlesex County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Middlesex County, Connecticut?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 6 near Middletown and the season winds down around March 20. 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 11 and as late as Mar 9.
How much maple syrup does Middlesex County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 20 maple operations in Middlesex County with 11,048 taps producing 2,044 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 8 Connecticut's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Middlesex County get in a season?
On average 48.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Middletown, of which about 20.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2008 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (30).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Middletown (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.

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