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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Peterborough, Ontario

Peterborough is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 67 farms reporting maple taps and 27,968 taps here. Around Peterborough, sap usually runs from March 13 to April 14. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 157 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 13
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 14
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
34.4
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
27,968
#20 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Peterborough right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Peterborough, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Peterborough's season usually opens around March 13, which is 157 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

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

Freeze-thaw weather at Peterborough peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 48% 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 13 – Apr 140246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 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: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.7 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: 1.0 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: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 13
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Peterborough, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 7 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 27 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Apr 14; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 27 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan8%Feb14%Mar33%Apr27%May2%

35 seasons of sap weather

Peterborough seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Peterborough was 2020 with 57 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1993 with 22. 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 16 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3720232023: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 46 sap days4620222022: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4020212021: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 38 sap days3820202020: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 57 sap days5720192019: Mar 19 – Apr 17, 35 sap days3520182018: Mar 26 – Apr 27, 42 sap days4220172017: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 34 sap days3420162016: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 31 sap days3120142014: Mar 22 – Apr 24, 23 sap days2320132013: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 41 sap days4120122012: Feb 15 – Mar 13, 46 sap days4620112011: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 23 sap days2320102010: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 36 sap days3620082008: Mar 27 – Apr 16, 24 sap days2420072007: Mar 14 – Apr 11, 22 sap days2220062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520042004: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 43 sap days4320012001: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 36 sap days3619991999: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 50 sap days5019981998: Feb 28 – Mar 25, 32 sap days3219971997: Mar 20 – Apr 18, 24 sap days2419961996: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 33 sap days3319951995: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 16 – Apr 12, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 22 sap days2219921992: Mar 26 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2719911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 36 sap days36
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Peterborough. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Peterborough 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 67 in Peterborough, with 27,968 taps; in 2016, 73 farms and 25,758 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Peterborough ranks 20th, and 85th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −8% and taps +9%. 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.

Peterborough maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20216727,968E
20167325,758
  • E Statistics Canada quality grade: use with caution.

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 Peterborough, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 193 m (633 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

Peterborough sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Peterborough, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 13 near Peterborough and the season winds down around April 14. 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 15 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Peterborough produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 67 farms reporting 27,968 maple taps in Peterborough, number 20 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Peterborough get in a season?
On average 34.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Peterborough, of which about 13.8 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 (57 sap days); the leanest was 1993 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Peterborough (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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