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Nova Scotia · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Pictou, Nova Scotia

Pictou is a county in Nova Scotia. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 11 farms reporting maple taps here (taps withheld by Statistics Canada). Around New Glasgow, sap usually runs from March 18 to April 19. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 162 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 18
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 19
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.2
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
withheld
by Statistics Canada

Sap-flow outlook at New Glasgow right now

Full Nova Scotia forecast →

Forecast for New Glasgow, NS

Updated Oct 7, 10:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Pictou's season usually opens around March 18, which is 162 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    6° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    7° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    8° / 12°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    5° / 10°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    9° / 14°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    9° / 12°
    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 New Glasgow

Freeze-thaw weather at New Glasgow peaks in the weeks of Feb 23 to Apr 20, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March 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 18 – Apr 190246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at New Glasgow, 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 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 13 and Mar 23. Earliest Feb 28 (2000), latest Apr 5 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 19; middle half between Apr 12 and Apr 23. Earliest Mar 29 (2000), latest May 9 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan14%Feb14%Mar26%Apr25%May3%

35 seasons of sap weather

Pictou seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at New Glasgow was 2018 with 59 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1998 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 days20252025: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 37 sap days3720242024: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4420232023: Mar 16 – Apr 10, 39 sap days3920222022: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 43 sap days4320212021: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 32 sap days3220202020: Mar 30 – May 1, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 59 sap days5920172017: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 50 sap days5020152015: Apr 5 – May 9, 35 sap days3520142014: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 33 sap days3320132013: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 36 sap days3620122012: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 46 sap days4620112011: Mar 22 – Apr 17, 28 sap days2820102010: Mar 3 – Mar 29, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 22 – Apr 21, 44 sap days4420082008: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 31 sap days3120072007: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 41 sap days4120062006: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720052005: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 30 sap days3020042004: Mar 27 – Apr 27, 29 sap days2920032003: Mar 25 – Apr 21, 37 sap days3720022002: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 36 sap days3620012001: Apr 2 – May 1, 33 sap days3320002000: Feb 28 – Mar 29, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 53 sap days5319981998: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2619971997: Apr 4 – May 6, 44 sap days4419961996: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 36 sap days3619951995: Mar 23 – Apr 27, 40 sap days4019941994: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 39 sap days3919931993: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 31 – May 3, 42 sap days4219911991: Mar 21 – Apr 20, 49 sap days49
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at New Glasgow. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Pictou 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 11 in Pictou; in 2016, 17 farms and 5,441 taps.

Over the five years the farm count changed −35%. 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.

Pictou maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202111withheld by Statistics Canada
2016175,441
  • "Withheld by Statistics Canada": Statistics Canada suppressed the value as too unreliable to publish (F). The farm count is still published.

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 New Glasgow, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 21 m (69 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. Nova Scotia 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

Pictou sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Pictou, Nova Scotia?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 18 near New Glasgow and the season winds down around April 19. 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 Feb 28 and as late as Apr 5.
How much maple syrup does Pictou produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 11 farms reporting maple taps in Pictou; the tap count was withheld by Statistics Canada.
How many sap days does Pictou get in a season?
On average 38.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at New Glasgow, of which about 16.4 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 2018 (59 sap days); the leanest was 1998 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at New Glasgow (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Nova Scotia 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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