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Illinois · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Woodford County, Illinois

Woodford County had 6 maple operations and 95 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in Illinois. Around Eureka, sap usually runs from February 14 to March 17. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 131 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 14
weather estimate
Season ends
Mar 17
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
43.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
95
#5 of 26 in IL

Sap-flow outlook at Eureka right now

Full Illinois forecast →

Forecast for Eureka, IL

Updated Oct 6, 10:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Woodford County's season usually opens around February 14, which is 131 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    55° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    47° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    54° / 81°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    59° / 81°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 79°
    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 Eureka

Freeze-thaw weather at Eureka peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 55% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Note: USDA publishes no season dates for Illinois, so the typical dates here are the raw weather signal. In neighboring states with USDA records, producers reported their seasons running one to three weeks later than this rule.
Typical season: Feb 14 – Mar 170246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.4 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: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.9 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: 0.1 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 14
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Eureka, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 3 and Feb 18. Earliest Jan 18 (2017), latest Mar 5 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 17; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 23. Earliest Feb 15 (1998), latest Apr 6 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan16%Feb22%Mar30%Apr9%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Woodford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Eureka was 2018 with 61 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 21. 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: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 6 – Mar 9, 32 sap days3220242024: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 48 sap days4820232023: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 47 sap days4720222022: Feb 14 – Mar 13, 45 sap days4520212021: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 46 sap days4620202020: Feb 12 – Mar 17, 50 sap days5020192019: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 47 sap days4720182018: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 61 sap days6120172017: Jan 18 – Feb 17, 41 sap days4120162016: Feb 3 – Mar 7, 37 sap days3720152015: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 33 sap days3320132013: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 44 sap days4420122012: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 50 sap days5020112011: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 28 sap days2820102010: Feb 28 – Mar 24, 21 sap days2120092009: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 36 sap days3620082008: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220072007: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 38 sap days3820062006: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 54 sap days5420052005: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 48 sap days4820042004: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 53 sap days5320032003: Feb 17 – Mar 14, 45 sap days4520022002: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 40 sap days4020002000: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 49 sap days4919991999: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 49 sap days4919981998: Jan 26 – Feb 15, 31 sap days3119971997: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 45 sap days4519961996: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 49 sap days4919951995: Feb 10 – Mar 10, 39 sap days3919941994: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4219921992: Jan 28 – Mar 2, 46 sap days4619911991: Feb 16 – Mar 16, 46 sap days46
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Eureka. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Woodford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Woodford County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Woodford County ranks 364 by taps.

Woodford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022695180.19
2017000—

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 Eureka (738ft), 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. 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 — Illinois, 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

Woodford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Woodford County, Illinois?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 14 near Eureka and the season winds down around March 17. 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 18 and as late as Mar 5.
How much maple syrup does Woodford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Woodford County with 95 taps producing 18 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 26 Illinois' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Woodford County get in a season?
On average 43.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Eureka, of which about 14.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (61 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Eureka (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Illinois. 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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