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Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Penobscot County, Maine

Penobscot County had 35 maple operations and 7,997 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bangor, sap usually runs from March 5 to April 10. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 150 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 5
typical year
Season ends
Apr 10
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,997
#12 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Bangor right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Bangor, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:02 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 57°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    39° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    39° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 68°
    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 Bangor

Freeze-thaw weather at Bangor peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 44% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Apr 100246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 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: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 ~Mar 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bangor, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 7 and Mar 17. Earliest Feb 18 (2012), latest Mar 22 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 14; middle half between Apr 7 and Apr 18. Earliest Mar 25 (1998), latest Apr 26 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb15%Mar32%Apr20%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Penobscot County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bangor was 2023 with 55 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 23. 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, 41 sap days4120252025: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 35 sap days3520242024: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 48 sap days4820232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 55 sap days5520222022: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 26 sap days2620202020: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 33 sap days3320182018: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 47 sap days4720172017: Mar 10 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320162016: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 52 sap days5220152015: Mar 22 – Apr 16, 23 sap days2320142014: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4120112011: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 33 sap days3320102010: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 35 sap days3520092009: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3420072007: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 48 sap days4820062006: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 41 sap days4120042004: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 20 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4520012001: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 33 sap days3320002000: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 44 sap days4419991999: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 47 sap days4719981998: Mar 3 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 31 sap days3119951995: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 33 sap days3319921992: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3519911991: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 51 sap days51
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bangor. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Penobscot County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Penobscot County the 2022 Census found 35 farms making syrup (-3% since 2017), with taps -79% and syrup output -88% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.13 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Penobscot County ranks 153 by taps.

Penobscot County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022357,9971,0400.13
20173637,2528,6740.23

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 Bangor (121ft), 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

Penobscot County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Penobscot County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Bangor and the season winds down around April 10. 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 18 and as late as Mar 22.
How much maple syrup does Penobscot County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 35 maple operations in Penobscot County with 7,997 taps producing 1,040 gallons of syrup, ranking 12 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Penobscot County get in a season?
On average 38.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bangor, of which about 12.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (55 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (23).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bangor (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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