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Massachusetts · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Berkshire County had 23 maple operations and 35,491 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Massachusetts. Around Pittsfield, sap usually runs from March 5 to April 12. 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 12
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
46
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
35,491
#3 of 8 in MA

Sap-flow outlook at Pittsfield right now

Full Massachusetts forecast →

Forecast for Pittsfield, MA

Updated Oct 6, 8:37 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 66°
    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 Pittsfield

Freeze-thaw weather at Pittsfield peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 5 – Apr 120246Week of Dec 1: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 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: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 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 Pittsfield, 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 6; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 24 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 12 (2016), latest Mar 18 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 12. Earliest Mar 13 (2016), latest Apr 21 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb18%Mar29%Apr19%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Berkshire County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Pittsfield was 2002 with 69 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 33 sap days3320242024: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 40 sap days4020232023: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 58 sap days5820222022: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 39 sap days3920212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120202020: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 51 sap days5120192019: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 44 sap days4420182018: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4820172017: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 12 – Mar 13, 49 sap days4920152015: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820132013: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 49 sap days4920122012: Feb 14 – Mar 16, 62 sap days6220112011: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 32 sap days3220102010: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 28 sap days2820092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 43 sap days4320082008: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 47 sap days4720072007: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 44 sap days4420062006: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 47 sap days4720052005: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 55 sap days5520042004: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3620022002: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 69 sap days6920012001: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 44 sap days4420002000: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 58 sap days5819991999: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 58 sap days5819981998: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 56 sap days5619971997: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 54 sap days5419961996: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 47 sap days4719951995: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 55 sap days5519941994: Mar 13 – Apr 9, 47 sap days4719931993: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4319921992: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 56 sap days5619911991: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 53 sap days53
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Pittsfield. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Berkshire County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Berkshire County the 2022 Census found 23 farms making syrup (-32% since 2017), with taps -34% and syrup output -5% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.37 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Berkshire County ranks 70 by taps.

Berkshire County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222335,49112,9860.37
20173453,73713,7350.26

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 Pittsfield (1,030ft), 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 Massachusetts' USDA record (8 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 — Massachusetts, 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

Berkshire County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Berkshire County, Massachusetts?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 5 near Pittsfield and the season winds down around April 12. 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 12 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Berkshire County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 23 maple operations in Berkshire County with 35,491 taps producing 12,986 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 8 Massachusetts' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Berkshire County get in a season?
On average 46 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Pittsfield, of which about 12.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (69 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Pittsfield (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Massachusetts. 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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