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Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Delaware County, Ohio

Delaware County had 10 maple operations and 460 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Delaware, sap usually runs from February 17 to March 25. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 134 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 17
typical year
Season ends
Mar 25
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
460
#45 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Delaware right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Delaware, OH

Updated Oct 6, 4:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Delaware County's season usually opens around February 17, which is 134 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    44° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 76°
    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 Delaware

Freeze-thaw weather at Delaware peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 54% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 17 – Mar 250246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.4 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: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.4 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: 0.1 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 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Delaware, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 31 and Feb 17. Earliest Jan 16 (2006), latest Mar 12 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Mar 15; middle half between Mar 2 and Mar 20. Earliest Feb 15 (2006), latest Apr 6 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec24%Jan16%Feb22%Mar30%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Delaware County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Delaware was 1999 with 53 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 days20262026: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 44 sap days4420242024: Feb 3 – Feb 26, 43 sap days4320232023: Jan 18 – Feb 19, 37 sap days3720222022: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 43 sap days4320212021: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 38 sap days3820202020: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 41 sap days4120192019: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 39 sap days3920182018: Jan 26 – Feb 18, 47 sap days4720172017: Jan 30 – Feb 17, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 4 – Mar 2, 36 sap days3620152015: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 26 sap days2620132013: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 38 sap days3820122012: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520112011: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 26 sap days2620102010: Mar 4 – Mar 10, 25 sap days2520092009: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3820082008: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 36 sap days3620072007: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 35 sap days3520062006: Jan 16 – Feb 15, 41 sap days4120052005: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 28 sap days2820042004: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 46 sap days4620032003: Feb 20 – Mar 15, 21 sap days2120022002: Jan 22 – Feb 25, 44 sap days4420012001: Feb 17 – Mar 20, 34 sap days3420002000: Jan 26 – Mar 1, 40 sap days4019991999: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 53 sap days5319981998: Jan 22 – Feb 16, 42 sap days4219971997: Jan 27 – Feb 26, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 12 – Mar 17, 30 sap days3019951995: Feb 17 – Mar 13, 31 sap days3119941994: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4119931993: Feb 23 – Mar 20, 42 sap days4219921992: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 52 sap days5219911991: Feb 11 – Mar 17, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Delaware. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Delaware County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Delaware County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (-9% since 2017), with taps -93% and syrup output -88% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.12 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Delaware County ranks 321 by taps.

Delaware County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202210460830.18
2017116,1767110.12

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 Delaware (912ft), 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

Delaware County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Delaware County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 17 near Delaware and the season winds down around March 25. 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 16 and as late as Mar 12.
How much maple syrup does Delaware County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Delaware County with 460 taps producing 83 gallons of syrup, ranking 45 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Delaware County get in a season?
On average 37.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Delaware, of which about 14.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Delaware (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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