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Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Androscoggin County, Maine

Androscoggin County had 28 maple operations and 21,175 taps in the 2022 Census, number 4 in Maine. Around Auburn, sap usually runs from March 3 to April 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 148 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 3
typical year
Season ends
Apr 8
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
44
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
21,175
#4 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Auburn right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Auburn, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

Only marginal days ahead

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    31° / 60°

    3h below · 20h above

    Maybe a light run
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    40° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    39° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 69°
    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 Auburn

Freeze-thaw weather at Auburn peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 42% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 3 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 3
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Auburn, 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 Mar 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 4 and Mar 16. Earliest Feb 17 (2012), latest Mar 21 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 6 and Apr 17. Earliest Mar 17 (2012), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb16%Mar31%Apr20%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Androscoggin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Auburn was 2016 with 62 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 28. 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: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 36 sap days3620252025: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 32 sap days3220242024: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 50 sap days5020232023: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 60 sap days6020222022: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320202020: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 54 sap days5420192019: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 40 sap days4020182018: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 54 sap days5420172017: Mar 8 – Apr 3, 43 sap days4320162016: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 62 sap days6220152015: Mar 21 – Apr 16, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 30 sap days3020132013: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 48 sap days4820122012: Feb 17 – Mar 17, 49 sap days4920112011: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 45 sap days4520072007: Mar 16 – Apr 13, 46 sap days4620062006: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 49 sap days4920052005: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 45 sap days4520042004: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 49 sap days4920032003: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 34 sap days3420022002: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 43 sap days4320002000: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 47 sap days4719991999: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 55 sap days5519981998: Feb 27 – Mar 26, 42 sap days4219971997: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4819961996: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 37 sap days3719951995: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 13 – Apr 9, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 43 sap days4319911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 56 sap days56
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Auburn. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Androscoggin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Androscoggin County the 2022 Census found 28 farms making syrup (+65% since 2017), with taps +69% and syrup output +109% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.28 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Androscoggin County ranks 91 by taps.

Androscoggin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222821,1756,0170.28
20171712,5642,8750.23

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 Auburn (269ft), 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 Maine's USDA record (12 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 — Maine, 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

Androscoggin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Androscoggin County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 3 near Auburn and the season winds down around April 8. 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 Feb 17 and as late as Mar 21.
How much maple syrup does Androscoggin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 28 maple operations in Androscoggin County with 21,175 taps producing 6,017 gallons of syrup, ranking 4 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Androscoggin County get in a season?
On average 44 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Auburn, 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 2016 (62 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (28).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Auburn (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Maine. 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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