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Kentucky · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Kenton County, Kentucky

Kenton County had 7 maple operations and 760 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Kentucky. Around Covington, sap usually runs from January 24 to February 24. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 110 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Jan 24
weather estimate
Season ends
Feb 24
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
41.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
760
#3 of 25 in KY

Sap-flow outlook at Covington right now

Full Kentucky forecast →

Forecast for Covington, KY

Updated Oct 6, 4:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Kenton County's season usually opens around January 24, which is 110 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    55° / 78°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    49° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 80°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    57° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    57° / 79°
    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 Covington

Freeze-thaw weather at Covington peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 96% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month. Note: USDA publishes no season dates for Kentucky, so the typical dates here are the raw weather signal. In neighboring states with USDA records, producers reported their seasons running one to three weeks later than this rule.
Typical season: Jan 24 – Feb 240246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 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 ~Jan 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Covington, 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 Jan 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 13 and Feb 1. Earliest Jan 2 (2020), latest Feb 15 (1995).
Closing signal
Median Feb 24; middle half between Feb 12 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 27 (2020), latest Mar 18 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec26%Jan23%Feb25%Mar23%Apr4%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Kenton County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Covington was 2004 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 25. 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 23 – Feb 25, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 2 – Mar 7, 36 sap days3620242024: Jan 7 – Feb 8, 45 sap days4520232023: Jan 7 – Feb 5, 40 sap days4020222022: Jan 30 – Mar 5, 50 sap days5020212021: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 48 sap days4820202020: Jan 2 – Jan 27, 49 sap days4920192019: Jan 22 – Feb 20, 44 sap days4420182018: Jan 19 – Feb 14, 45 sap days4520172017: Jan 9 – Jan 31, 41 sap days4120162016: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 33 sap days3320152015: Feb 10 – Mar 9, 33 sap days3320142014: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 36 sap days3620132013: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 52 sap days5220122012: Jan 4 – Feb 7, 41 sap days4120112011: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 33 sap days3320102010: Feb 9 – Mar 8, 25 sap days2520092009: Jan 30 – Mar 5, 40 sap days4020082008: Jan 13 – Feb 17, 39 sap days3920072007: Jan 27 – Mar 1, 41 sap days4120062006: Jan 8 – Jan 28, 50 sap days5020052005: Feb 1 – Feb 6, 42 sap days4220042004: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 53 sap days5320032003: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 31 sap days3120022002: Jan 9 – Feb 12, 52 sap days5220012001: Jan 27 – Mar 2, 44 sap days4420002000: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 47 sap days4719991999: Jan 11 – Feb 6, 52 sap days5219981998: Jan 12 – Feb 10, 49 sap days4919971997: Jan 17 – Feb 18, 36 sap days3619961996: Jan 22 – Feb 19, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 15 – Feb 26, 35 sap days3519941994: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 38 sap days3819931993: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 42 sap days4219921992: Jan 16 – Feb 13, 52 sap days5219911991: Jan 18 – Feb 17, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Covington. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Kenton County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Kenton County the 2022 Census found 7 farms making syrup (+250% since 2017). That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Kenton County ranks 294 by taps.

Kenton County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202277601980.26
20172withheldwithheld—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Covington (515ft), 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. 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 — Kentucky, 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

Kenton County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Kenton County, Kentucky?
In a typical year the sap starts running around January 24 near Covington and the season winds down around February 24. 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 2 and as late as Feb 15.
How much maple syrup does Kenton County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 7 maple operations in Kenton County with 760 taps producing 198 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 25 Kentucky's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Kenton County get in a season?
On average 41.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Covington, of which about 13.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2004 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Covington (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Kentucky. 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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