Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Delaware County, Indiana

Delaware County had 7 maple operations and 1,228 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Muncie, sap usually runs from February 7 to March 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 124 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 7
typical year
Season ends
Mar 8
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
37.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,228
#15 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Muncie right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Muncie, IN

Updated Oct 6, 10:45 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Delaware County's season usually opens around February 7, which is 124 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    49° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    49° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 78°
    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 Muncie

Freeze-thaw weather at Muncie peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 30, which hold about 59% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 7 – Mar 80246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.5 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 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Muncie, 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 11; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 2 and Feb 20. Earliest Jan 11 (2023), latest Mar 8 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Mar 13; middle half between Mar 6 and Mar 18. Earliest Feb 14 (2023), latest Mar 31 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan17%Feb22%Mar30%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Delaware County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Muncie was 2018 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 22. 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 9 – Mar 3, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 7 – Mar 7, 30 sap days3020242024: Feb 3 – Feb 26, 40 sap days4020232023: Jan 11 – Feb 14, 42 sap days4220222022: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 21 – Mar 8, 35 sap days3520202020: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 38 sap days3820192019: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 42 sap days4220182018: Jan 23 – Feb 19, 53 sap days5320172017: Jan 13 – Feb 17, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 32 sap days3220152015: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 29 sap days2920132013: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 47 sap days4720112011: Feb 13 – Mar 14, 28 sap days2820102010: Mar 4 – Mar 8, 22 sap days2220092009: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 35 sap days3520082008: Feb 14 – Mar 14, 36 sap days3620072007: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 33 sap days3320062006: Jan 20 – Feb 24, 39 sap days3920052005: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 33 sap days3320042004: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3620032003: Mar 8 – Mar 15, 24 sap days2420022002: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 44 sap days4420012001: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 36 sap days3620002000: Jan 28 – Mar 4, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 22 – Feb 15, 49 sap days4919971997: Feb 4 – Mar 11, 44 sap days4419961996: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4219951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 40 sap days4019941994: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 38 sap days3819931993: Feb 25 – Mar 20, 39 sap days3919921992: Jan 29 – Mar 2, 51 sap days5119911991: Feb 14 – Mar 17, 44 sap days44
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Muncie. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Delaware County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Delaware County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps +2356% and syrup output +2740% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.35 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.30 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Delaware County ranks 273 by taps.

Delaware County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202271,2284260.35
2017750150.30

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 Muncie (948ft), 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

Delaware County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Delaware County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 7 near Muncie and the season winds down around March 8. 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 8.
How much maple syrup does Delaware County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Delaware County with 1,228 taps producing 426 gallons of syrup, ranking 15 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Delaware County get in a season?
On average 37.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Muncie, of which about 14.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Muncie (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Delaware County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play