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Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Ashtabula County, Ohio

Ashtabula County had 34 maple operations and 40,187 taps in the 2022 Census, number 2 in Ohio. Around Jefferson, sap usually runs from February 24 to March 31. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 141 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 24
typical year
Season ends
Mar 31
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
40,187
#2 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Jefferson right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Jefferson, OH

Updated Oct 6, 3:46 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Ashtabula County's season usually opens around February 24, which is 141 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    43° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    50° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 70°
    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 Jefferson

Freeze-thaw weather at Jefferson peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Apr 6, which hold about 61% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 24 – Mar 310246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 ~Feb 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Jefferson, 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 20 (2017), latest Mar 8 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 21; middle half between Mar 11 and Apr 2. Earliest Feb 16 (1998), latest Apr 9 (1994).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan16%Feb20%Mar28%Apr15%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Ashtabula County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Jefferson was 2012 with 56 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 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 days20262026: Feb 10 – Mar 3, 31 sap days3120252025: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 32 sap days3220232023: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 49 sap days4920222022: Feb 15 – Mar 14, 36 sap days3620212021: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 28 sap days2820202020: Feb 12 – Mar 17, 45 sap days4520192019: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920182018: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 41 sap days4120172017: Jan 20 – Feb 20, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 47 sap days4720152015: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220142014: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 56 sap days5620112011: Mar 5 – Apr 3, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 43 sap days4320082008: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 29 sap days2920062006: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 31 sap days3120052005: Feb 23 – Mar 22, 26 sap days2620042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 35 sap days3520032003: Feb 22 – Mar 15, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 45 sap days4520012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4020002000: Feb 1 – Mar 8, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 47 sap days4719981998: Jan 25 – Feb 16, 39 sap days3919971997: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 52 sap days5219961996: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 44 sap days4419951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 46 sap days4619931993: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 41 sap days4119921992: Feb 4 – Mar 6, 48 sap days4819911991: Feb 18 – Mar 20, 44 sap days44
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Jefferson. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Ashtabula County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Ashtabula County the 2022 Census found 34 farms making syrup (-31% since 2017), with taps +2% and syrup output +33% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.25 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Ashtabula County ranks 66 by taps.

Ashtabula County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223440,18710,1990.25
20174939,4597,6830.20

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 Jefferson (919ft), 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 Ohio's USDA record (8 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 — Ohio, 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

Ashtabula County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Ashtabula County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 24 near Jefferson and the season winds down around March 31. 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 20 and as late as Mar 8.
How much maple syrup does Ashtabula County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 34 maple operations in Ashtabula County with 40,187 taps producing 10,199 gallons of syrup, ranking 2 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Ashtabula County get in a season?
On average 37.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Jefferson, of which about 12.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (56 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Jefferson (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Ohio. 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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