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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Jefferson County, Indiana

Jefferson County had 7 maple operations and 154 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Madison, sap usually runs from January 23 to February 21. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 109 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 23
typical year
Season ends
Feb 21
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
43.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
154
#26 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Madison right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Madison, IN

Updated Oct 6, 9:56 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Jefferson County's season usually opens around January 23, which is 109 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 83°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    48° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 82°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 80°
    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 Madison

Freeze-thaw weather at Madison peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 94% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month.
Typical season: Jan 23 – Feb 210246Week of Dec 1: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.1 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 ~Jan 23
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Madison, 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 Jan 27; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 19 and Feb 3. Earliest Jan 2 (2006), latest Feb 17 (1993).
Closing signal
Median Feb 26; middle half between Feb 15 and Mar 9. Earliest Jan 27 (2020), latest Mar 20 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec25%Jan21%Feb25%Mar24%Apr5%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Jefferson County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Madison was 1992 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 27. 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 23 – Feb 27, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 33 sap days3320242024: Jan 8 – Feb 8, 45 sap days4520232023: Jan 7 – Feb 7, 41 sap days4120222022: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 43 sap days4320202020: Jan 5 – Jan 27, 47 sap days4720192019: Jan 22 – Feb 20, 42 sap days4220182018: Jan 19 – Feb 19, 46 sap days4620172017: Jan 30 – Jan 31, 32 sap days3220162016: Jan 22 – Feb 19, 36 sap days3620152015: Feb 10 – Mar 9, 41 sap days4120142014: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 37 sap days3720132013: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 54 sap days5420122012: Jan 18 – Feb 21, 51 sap days5120112011: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 35 sap days3520102010: Feb 9 – Mar 8, 27 sap days2720092009: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 43 sap days4320082008: Jan 27 – Mar 1, 40 sap days4020072007: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 42 sap days4220062006: Jan 2 – Jan 28, 45 sap days4520052005: Jan 24 – Feb 6, 44 sap days4420042004: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 44 sap days4420032003: Feb 13 – Mar 15, 35 sap days3520022002: Jan 9 – Feb 13, 54 sap days5420012001: Feb 5 – Mar 11, 47 sap days4720002000: Jan 21 – Feb 22, 46 sap days4619991999: Jan 11 – Feb 6, 56 sap days5619981998: Jan 12 – Feb 16, 47 sap days4719971997: Jan 21 – Feb 25, 44 sap days4419961996: Jan 23 – Feb 19, 49 sap days4919951995: Feb 14 – Feb 25, 43 sap days4319941994: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 48 sap days4819931993: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 50 sap days5019921992: Jan 19 – Feb 13, 58 sap days5819911991: Jan 26 – Feb 28, 50 sap days50
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Madison. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Jefferson County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Jefferson County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+17% since 2017), with taps +88% and syrup output +25% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.10 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Jefferson County ranks 353 by taps.

Jefferson County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20227154150.10
2017682120.15

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 Madison (535ft), 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

Jefferson County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Jefferson County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 23 near Madison and the season winds down around February 21. 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 2 and as late as Feb 17.
How much maple syrup does Jefferson County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Jefferson County with 154 taps producing 15 gallons of syrup, ranking 26 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Jefferson County get in a season?
On average 43.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Madison, of which about 13.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1992 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (27).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Madison (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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