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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Noble County, Indiana

Noble County had 11 maple operations and 3,645 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Albion, sap usually runs from February 15 to March 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 132 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 15
typical year
Season ends
Mar 16
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
38.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,645
#8 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Albion right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Albion, IN

Updated Oct 6, 9:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Noble County's season usually opens around February 15, which is 132 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    48° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    55° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 75°
    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 Albion

Freeze-thaw weather at Albion peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 30, which hold about 48% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 15 – Mar 160246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 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: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 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 15
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Albion, 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 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 8 and Feb 27. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 11 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 21; middle half between Mar 10 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 18 (2017), latest Apr 7 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan12%Feb21%Mar34%Apr11%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Noble County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Albion was 2002 with 55 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 26. 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, 34 sap days3420252025: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 40 sap days4020242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 41 sap days4120222022: Feb 16 – Mar 14, 42 sap days4220212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 40 sap days4020202020: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 46 sap days4620192019: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920182018: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 53 sap days5320172017: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 8 – Feb 28, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 28 – Mar 24, 27 sap days2720092009: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 11 – Apr 4, 35 sap days3520072007: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320062006: Feb 6 – Mar 8, 45 sap days4520052005: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 31 sap days3120042004: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 26 sap days2620022002: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 55 sap days5520012001: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 34 sap days3420002000: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 43 sap days4319991999: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4919981998: Jan 26 – Feb 26, 44 sap days4419971997: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4219961996: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 10 – Mar 11, 36 sap days3619941994: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3119921992: Feb 2 – Mar 2, 40 sap days4019911991: Feb 16 – Mar 17, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Albion. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Noble County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Noble County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps +18% and syrup output +57% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.30 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Noble County ranks 217 by taps.

Noble County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022113,6451,0920.30
2017113,1006970.23

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 Albion (938ft), 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

Noble County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Noble County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 15 near Albion and the season winds down around March 16. 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 19 and as late as Mar 11.
How much maple syrup does Noble County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Noble County with 3,645 taps producing 1,092 gallons of syrup, ranking 8 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Noble County get in a season?
On average 38.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Albion, 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 2002 (55 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Albion (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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