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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Huron, Ontario

Huron is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 95 farms reporting maple taps and 121,397 taps here. Around South Huron, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 4. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 151 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 7
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 4
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
28.4
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
121,397
#6 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at South Huron right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for South Huron, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Huron's season usually opens around March 7, which is 151 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    9° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    4° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    7° / 24°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    15° / 23°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    13° / 20°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    13° / 17°
    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 South Huron

Freeze-thaw weather at South Huron peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 43% 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 7 – Apr 40246Week of Dec 1: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 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 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at South Huron, 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 7; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Apr 9 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Apr 4; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 9. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan10%Feb17%Mar31%Apr23%May2%

35 seasons of sap weather

Huron seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at South Huron was 2020 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2007 with 18. 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 28 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2920242024: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 27 sap days2720232023: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 38 sap days3820222022: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320212021: Feb 24 – Mar 21, 29 sap days2920202020: Feb 26 – Mar 26, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 29 sap days2920172017: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 23 sap days2320162016: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 39 sap days3920152015: Mar 14 – Apr 5, 21 sap days2120142014: Mar 27 – Apr 19, 21 sap days2120132013: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 11 – Mar 11, 38 sap days3820112011: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 19 sap days1920102010: Mar 6 – Mar 31, 19 sap days1920092009: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 14 – Apr 6, 27 sap days2720072007: Mar 9 – Mar 30, 18 sap days1820062006: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 25 sap days2520052005: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 21 sap days2120042004: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 26 sap days2620032003: Apr 9 – Apr 13, 20 sap days2020022002: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 36 sap days3620012001: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 23 sap days2320002000: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 28 sap days2819991999: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 36 sap days3619981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 27 sap days2719971997: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 16 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2919951995: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 20 – Apr 11, 21 sap days2119931993: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 20 sap days2019921992: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2719911991: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 27 sap days27
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at South Huron. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Huron 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 95 in Huron, with 121,397 taps; in 2016, 122 farms and 109,178 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Huron ranks 6th, and 58th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −22% and taps +11%. 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.

Huron maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
202195121,397
2016122109,178

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 South Huron, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 243 m (797 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

Huron sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Huron, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near South Huron and the season winds down around April 4. 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 7 and as late as Apr 9.
How much maple syrup does Huron produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 95 farms reporting 121,397 maple taps in Huron, number 6 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Huron get in a season?
On average 28.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at South Huron, of which about 12.6 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 2020 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2007 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at South Huron (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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