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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Madison County, Indiana

Madison County had 6 maple operations and 4,128 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Anderson, sap usually runs from February 7 to March 7. 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 7
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
40
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,128
#6 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Anderson right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Anderson, IN

Updated Oct 6, 10:45 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Madison 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
    50° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 75°

    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 Anderson

Freeze-thaw weather at Anderson 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 70246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 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: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.4 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: 0.0 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 Anderson, 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 16. Earliest Jan 14 (2017), latest Mar 4 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Mar 12; middle half between Mar 5 and Mar 18. Earliest Feb 15 (1998), latest Apr 4 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan16%Feb22%Mar29%Apr9%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Madison County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Anderson was 2018 with 59 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, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 3 – Feb 26, 44 sap days4420232023: Jan 15 – Feb 19, 45 sap days4520222022: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 44 sap days4420212021: Feb 11 – Mar 8, 36 sap days3620202020: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 40 sap days4020192019: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 50 sap days5020182018: Jan 24 – Feb 27, 59 sap days5920172017: Jan 14 – Feb 17, 35 sap days3520162016: Feb 3 – Mar 6, 34 sap days3420152015: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220142014: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 32 sap days3220132013: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 45 sap days4520122012: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 48 sap days4820112011: Feb 13 – Mar 12, 29 sap days2920102010: Mar 2 – Mar 8, 22 sap days2220092009: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 36 sap days3620082008: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 37 sap days3720072007: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 34 sap days3420062006: Jan 19 – Feb 23, 42 sap days4220052005: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 35 sap days3520042004: Feb 25 – Mar 24, 37 sap days3720032003: Mar 4 – Mar 15, 26 sap days2620022002: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 50 sap days5020012001: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 38 sap days3820002000: Jan 27 – Feb 28, 44 sap days4419991999: Feb 11 – Mar 17, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 22 – Feb 15, 47 sap days4719971997: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 44 sap days4419961996: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 44 sap days4419951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 40 sap days4019941994: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719931993: Feb 25 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3819921992: Jan 28 – Mar 2, 50 sap days5019911991: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 42 sap days42
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Anderson. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Madison County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Madison County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (+20% since 2017), with taps +140% and syrup output +268% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.15 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.10 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Madison County ranks 210 by taps.

Madison County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202264,1286180.15
201751,7201680.10

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 Anderson (850ft), 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

Madison County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Madison County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 7 near Anderson and the season winds down around March 7. 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 14 and as late as Mar 4.
How much maple syrup does Madison County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Madison County with 4,128 taps producing 618 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Madison County get in a season?
On average 40 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Anderson, of which about 15.5 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (59 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Anderson (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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