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Connecticut · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in New Haven County, Connecticut

New Haven County had 16 maple operations and 2,570 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Waterbury, sap usually runs from February 9 to March 23. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 126 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 9
typical year
Season ends
Mar 23
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
49.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,570
#8 of 8 in CT

Sap-flow outlook at Waterbury right now

Full Connecticut forecast →

Forecast for Waterbury, CT

Updated Oct 6, 3:07 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 64°

    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
    47° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 67°

    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 Waterbury

Freeze-thaw weather at Waterbury peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 9 – Mar 230246Week of Dec 1: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Waterbury, 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 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 5 and Feb 23. Earliest Jan 10 (2023), latest Mar 10 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 23; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 27. Earliest Feb 13 (2023), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan19%Feb23%Mar27%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

New Haven County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Waterbury was 2008 with 63 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 32. 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 15 – Mar 20, 44 sap days4420252025: Feb 11 – Mar 10, 39 sap days3920242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 42 sap days4220232023: Jan 10 – Feb 13, 53 sap days5320222022: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 48 sap days4820202020: Jan 28 – Mar 3, 52 sap days5220192019: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 55 sap days5520182018: Jan 28 – Feb 27, 54 sap days5420172017: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 54 sap days5420162016: Feb 5 – Mar 8, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 48 sap days4820132013: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 57 sap days5720122012: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 60 sap days6020112011: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 42 sap days4220102010: Feb 11 – Mar 17, 36 sap days3620092009: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 48 sap days4820082008: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 63 sap days6320072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 51 sap days5120062006: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 55 sap days5520052005: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 52 sap days5220042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620032003: Feb 23 – Mar 24, 32 sap days3220022002: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 58 sap days5820012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 49 sap days4920002000: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 47 sap days4719991999: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 57 sap days5719981998: Jan 24 – Feb 17, 47 sap days4719971997: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 59 sap days5919961996: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 50 sap days5019921992: Feb 24 – Mar 27, 52 sap days5219911991: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 62 sap days62
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Waterbury. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

New Haven County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In New Haven County the 2022 Census found 16 farms making syrup (+78% since 2017), with taps -49% and syrup output -49% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, New Haven County ranks 237 by taps.

New Haven County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022162,5706190.24
201795,0601,2150.24

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 Waterbury (364ft), 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

New Haven County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in New Haven County, Connecticut?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 9 near Waterbury and the season winds down around March 23. 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 10 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does New Haven County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 16 maple operations in New Haven County with 2,570 taps producing 619 gallons of syrup, ranking 8 of 8 Connecticut's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does New Haven County get in a season?
On average 49.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Waterbury, of which about 20.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2008 (63 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (32).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Waterbury (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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