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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Essex, Ontario

Essex is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 15 farms reporting maple taps here (taps withheld by Statistics Canada). Around Windsor, sap usually runs from February 22 to March 24. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 138 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 22
weather estimate
Season ends
Mar 24
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
31
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
withheld
by Statistics Canada

Sap-flow outlook at Windsor right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Windsor, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Essex's season usually opens around February 22, which is 138 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    10° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    7° / 21°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    11° / 28°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    15° / 24°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    14° / 23°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    14° / 19°
    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 Windsor

Freeze-thaw weather at Windsor peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Mar 23, which hold about 44% 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: Feb 22 – Mar 240246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 22
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Windsor, 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 Feb 22; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 10 and Feb 28. Earliest Jan 20 (2017), latest Mar 13 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 24; middle half between Mar 15 and Mar 31. Earliest Feb 17 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan13%Feb21%Mar35%Apr12%May0%

35 seasons of sap weather

Essex seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Windsor was 2018 with 44 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: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 4 – Mar 2, 31 sap days3120232023: Feb 5 – Mar 7, 32 sap days3220222022: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 34 sap days3420202020: Feb 12 – Mar 17, 37 sap days3720192019: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 35 sap days3520182018: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 44 sap days4420172017: Jan 20 – Feb 17, 24 sap days2420162016: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 33 sap days3320152015: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 7 – Mar 11, 32 sap days3220112011: Mar 5 – Apr 3, 24 sap days2420102010: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 26 sap days2620092009: Feb 22 – Mar 24, 35 sap days3520082008: Mar 13 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 23 sap days2320062006: Feb 5 – Mar 8, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 1 – Mar 27, 27 sap days2720042004: Feb 25 – Mar 24, 29 sap days2920032003: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 21 sap days2120022002: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 41 sap days4120012001: Mar 3 – Mar 28, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 1 – Mar 5, 29 sap days2919991999: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 40 sap days4019981998: Feb 1 – Mar 4, 23 sap days2319971997: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 33 sap days3319961996: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 33 sap days3319951995: Feb 15 – Mar 18, 31 sap days3119941994: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 29 sap days2919931993: Mar 5 – Apr 3, 22 sap days2219921992: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 36 sap days3619911991: Feb 18 – Mar 17, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Windsor. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Essex 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 15 in Essex; in 2016, 16 farms and 555 taps.

Over the five years the farm count changed −6%. 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.

Essex maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202115withheld by Statistics Canada
201616555
  • "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 Windsor, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 190 m (623 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. Ontario 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

Essex sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Essex, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 22 near Windsor and the season winds down around March 24. 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 Jan 20 and as late as Mar 13.
How much maple syrup does Essex produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 15 farms reporting maple taps in Essex; the tap count was withheld by Statistics Canada.
How many sap days does Essex get in a season?
On average 31 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Windsor, of which about 16.2 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 (44 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Windsor (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Ontario 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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