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New Brunswick · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Madawaska, New Brunswick

Madawaska is a county in New Brunswick. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 29 farms reporting maple taps and 635,532 taps here, number 2 in New Brunswick. Around Edmundston, sap usually runs from March 30 to May 1. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 174 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 30
weather estimate
Season ends
May 1
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.8
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
635,532
#2 of 4 in NB

Sap-flow outlook at Edmundston right now

Full New Brunswick forecast →

Forecast for Edmundston, NB

Updated Oct 7, 10:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Madawaska's season usually opens around March 30, which is 174 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    6° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    3° / 11°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    2° / 6°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    1° / 11°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    8° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    6° / 10°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Edmundston

Freeze-thaw weather at Edmundston peaks in the weeks of Mar 23 to Apr 27, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month. Typical dates are a weather estimate (no official season record for this province): the median of this division's own weather signals.
Typical season: Mar 30 – May 10246Week of Dec 1: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 30
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Edmundston, 1991–2025 (Daymet temperatures). A sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Mar 30; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 28 and Apr 4. Earliest Mar 16 (2010), latest Apr 12 (2020).
Closing signal
Median May 1; middle half between Apr 28 and May 5. Earliest Apr 17 (2010), latest May 16 (2020).
Sap days by month
Dec9%Jan4%Feb6%Mar28%Apr43%May10%

35 seasons of sap weather

Madawaska seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Edmundston was 1999 with 47 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 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 days20252025: Mar 27 – May 1, 28 sap days2820242024: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 42 sap days4220232023: Mar 26 – Apr 21, 34 sap days3420222022: Apr 3 – May 8, 33 sap days3320212021: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720202020: Apr 12 – May 16, 42 sap days4220192019: Apr 2 – May 1, 26 sap days2620182018: Apr 1 – Apr 24, 35 sap days3520172017: Mar 30 – Apr 25, 28 sap days2820162016: Apr 4 – May 2, 36 sap days3620152015: Mar 30 – Apr 20, 21 sap days2120142014: Apr 5 – May 9, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 28 – Apr 28, 41 sap days4120122012: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420112011: Apr 4 – May 2, 37 sap days3720102010: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 38 sap days3820092009: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 30 – May 3, 31 sap days3120072007: Apr 3 – May 6, 33 sap days3320062006: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 32 sap days3220052005: Mar 30 – May 4, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 29 – Apr 30, 33 sap days3320032003: Apr 4 – May 5, 21 sap days2120022002: Apr 1 – May 5, 37 sap days3720012001: Mar 30 – Apr 29, 32 sap days3220002000: Apr 1 – May 4, 42 sap days4219991999: Mar 28 – May 1, 47 sap days4719981998: Apr 5 – Apr 28, 24 sap days2419971997: Apr 6 – May 9, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 27 – May 1, 34 sap days3419951995: Apr 5 – May 10, 39 sap days3919941994: Apr 2 – May 3, 40 sap days4019931993: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 24 sap days2419921992: Apr 5 – May 8, 35 sap days3519911991: Mar 31 – Apr 30, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Edmundston. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Madawaska in the Census of Agriculture

Statistics Canada counts the farms that report maple taps in its Census of Agriculture every five years. In 2021 it counted 29 in Madawaska, with 635,532 taps; in 2016, 28 farms and 410,010 taps. Among New Brunswick's 4 census divisions with a published tap count, Madawaska ranks 2nd, and 23rd of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed +4% and taps +55%. Statistics Canada cautions that 2021 and 2016 are not strictly comparable: the census-farm definition changed in 2021, and farms were assigned to their main location more strictly.

Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division, so the Canadian pages show farms and taps, not gallons or litres.

Madawaska maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202129635,532
201628410,010

Nearby

Neighboring maple divisions

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each division's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the Daymet 1-km grid cell at Edmundston, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 175 m (574 ft). Each day is scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). A season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits 35 days before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. The rule was calibrated on 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates in the US and is applied here unchanged. New Brunswick has no official season record, so the typical dates are a weather estimate. Production figures are copied from Statistics Canada as published. Full method, the Daymet checks and the Quebec validation → Run a sugarhouse here? Put this sap forecast on your own website →

Sources · 7

  1. 1.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2021 (Table 32-10-0362-01) · Statistics Canada
  2. 2.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016 (Table 32-10-0423-01) · Statistics Canada
  3. 3.Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1 · ORNL DAAC
  4. 4.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  5. 5.2021 Census cartographic boundary files (census divisions, population centres) · Statistics Canada
  6. 6.Population and dwelling counts, 2021 Census (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) · Statistics Canada
Show 1 more
  1. 7.GeoNames geographical database (CA) · GeoNames

Licences and attribution

  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021 and 2016 (Tables 32-10-0362-01 and 32-10-0423-01), 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) and 2021 Census cartographic boundary files. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
  • Thornton, M.M., R. Shrestha, Y. Wei, P.E. Thornton, S-C. Kao, and B.E. Wilson. 2022. Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129
  • Place coordinates: GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Madawaska sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Madawaska, New Brunswick?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 30 near Edmundston and the season winds down around May 1. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of nights below −1 °C and days above +3 °C. In the past 35 seasons the weather signal came as early as Mar 16 and as late as Apr 12.
How much maple syrup does Madawaska produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 29 farms reporting 635,532 maple taps in Madawaska, number 2 of 4 New Brunswick divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Madawaska get in a season?
On average 33.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Edmundston, of which about 11.1 are textbook days with a night between about −7 and −2 °C and a day between 4 and 9 °C. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (47 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Edmundston (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. New Brunswick has no official season record, so they are a weather estimate. They describe a typical year at one point in the division; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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