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Connecticut · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in New London County, Connecticut

New London County had 16 maple operations and 6,537 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Norwich, sap usually runs from February 3 to March 15. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 120 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 3
typical year
Season ends
Mar 15
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
49.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,537
#6 of 8 in CT

Sap-flow outlook at Norwich right now

Full Connecticut forecast →

Forecast for Norwich, CT

Updated Oct 6, 3:07 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    32° / 65°

    0h below · 22h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    54° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 69°
    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 Norwich

Freeze-thaw weather at Norwich peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 3 – Mar 150246Week of Dec 1: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 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: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 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 3
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Norwich, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 1 and Feb 21. Earliest Jan 8 (2023), latest Mar 9 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 15; middle half between Mar 5 and Mar 25. Earliest Feb 12 (2023), latest Apr 5 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec26%Jan20%Feb24%Mar25%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

New London County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Norwich was 2008 with 67 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 31. 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 17 – Mar 20, 57 sap days5720252025: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 49 sap days4920242024: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 8 – Feb 12, 56 sap days5620222022: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 49 sap days4920212021: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 50 sap days5020202020: Jan 19 – Feb 23, 47 sap days4720192019: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 55 sap days5520182018: Jan 23 – Feb 20, 45 sap days4520172017: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 49 sap days4920162016: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3620142014: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3820132013: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 58 sap days5820122012: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 59 sap days5920112011: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 46 sap days4620102010: Feb 8 – Mar 7, 38 sap days3820092009: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 52 sap days5220082008: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 67 sap days6720072007: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 50 sap days5020062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 49 sap days4920052005: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 50 sap days5020042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 50 sap days5020032003: Feb 22 – Mar 20, 31 sap days3120022002: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 53 sap days5320012001: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 51 sap days5120002000: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 45 sap days4519991999: Feb 12 – Mar 16, 57 sap days5719981998: Jan 23 – Feb 23, 49 sap days4919971997: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 60 sap days6019961996: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 53 sap days5319941994: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 56 sap days5619921992: Feb 5 – Mar 6, 52 sap days5219911991: Jan 28 – Mar 1, 52 sap days52
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Norwich. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

New London County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In New London County the 2022 Census found 16 farms making syrup (-43% since 2017), with taps -18% and syrup output -39% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.09 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.13 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, New London County ranks 167 by taps.

New London County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022166,5376160.09
2017287,9451,0060.13

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 Norwich (171ft), 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 London County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in New London County, Connecticut?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 3 near Norwich and the season winds down around March 15. 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 8 and as late as Mar 9.
How much maple syrup does New London County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 16 maple operations in New London County with 6,537 taps producing 616 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 8 Connecticut's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does New London County get in a season?
On average 49.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Norwich, of which about 20.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2008 (67 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (31).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Norwich (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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