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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Allen County, Indiana

Allen County had 10 maple operations and 723 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Fort Wayne, sap usually runs from February 13 to March 13. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 130 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 13
typical year
Season ends
Mar 13
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
37.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
723
#19 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Fort Wayne right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Fort Wayne, IN

Updated Oct 6, 9:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Allen County's season usually opens around February 13, which is 130 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 76°
    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 Fort Wayne

Freeze-thaw weather at Fort Wayne peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 13 – Mar 130246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.7 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: 0.1 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 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Fort Wayne, 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 18 (2017), latest Mar 7 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 18; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 27. Earliest Feb 17 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan14%Feb21%Mar32%Apr10%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Allen County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Fort Wayne was 2018 with 58 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: Feb 10 – Mar 4, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 40 sap days4020222022: Feb 15 – Mar 14, 48 sap days4820212021: Feb 23 – Mar 22, 40 sap days4020202020: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 48 sap days4820192019: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 41 sap days4120182018: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 58 sap days5820172017: Jan 18 – Feb 17, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 6 – Mar 7, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 25 sap days2520102010: Feb 28 – Mar 8, 21 sap days2120092009: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 37 sap days3720082008: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 39 sap days3920072007: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320062006: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 43 sap days4320052005: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 31 sap days3120042004: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 34 sap days3420032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 24 sap days2420022002: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 31 sap days3120002000: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 45 sap days4519981998: Jan 26 – Feb 26, 43 sap days4319971997: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3819961996: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 33 sap days3319941994: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 30 sap days3019921992: Feb 1 – Mar 2, 43 sap days4319911991: Feb 28 – Mar 17, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Fort Wayne. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Allen County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Allen County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (+100% since 2017), with taps +3% and syrup output +11% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.32 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.30 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Allen County ranks 298 by taps.

Allen County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022107232290.32
201757002070.30

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 Fort Wayne (787ft), 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 Indiana's USDA record (3 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 — Indiana, 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

Allen County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Allen County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 13 near Fort Wayne and the season winds down around March 13. 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 7.
How much maple syrup does Allen County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Allen County with 723 taps producing 229 gallons of syrup, ranking 19 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Allen County get in a season?
On average 37.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Fort Wayne, of which about 14.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Fort Wayne (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Indiana. 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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