Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Massachusetts · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hampden County, Massachusetts

Hampden County had 17 maple operations and 13,595 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in Massachusetts. Around Springfield, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 29. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 135 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 18
typical year
Season ends
Mar 29
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
48
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
13,595
#5 of 8 in MA

Sap-flow outlook at Springfield right now

Full Massachusetts forecast →

Forecast for Springfield, MA

Updated Oct 6, 9:38 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    48° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 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 Springfield

Freeze-thaw weather at Springfield peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 290246Week of Dec 1: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 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: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 ~Feb 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Springfield, 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 Feb 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 6 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 17 (2023), latest Mar 10 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 25; middle half between Mar 10 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 20 (2023), latest Apr 8 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec25%Jan18%Feb23%Mar27%Apr7%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hampden County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Springfield was 2012 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 32. 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 18 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620252025: Feb 12 – Mar 11, 39 sap days3920242024: Feb 1 – Mar 3, 38 sap days3820232023: Jan 17 – Feb 20, 64 sap days6420222022: Feb 11 – Mar 14, 41 sap days4120212021: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 48 sap days4820202020: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 50 sap days5020192019: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 54 sap days5420182018: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 52 sap days5220172017: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 54 sap days5420162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 49 sap days4920152015: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 47 sap days4720132013: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 50 sap days5020122012: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 64 sap days6420112011: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 44 sap days4420102010: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 33 sap days3320092009: Feb 24 – Mar 26, 47 sap days4720082008: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 61 sap days6120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4820062006: Feb 9 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120052005: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 44 sap days4420042004: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 41 sap days4120032003: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220022002: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 63 sap days6320012001: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 49 sap days4920002000: Feb 6 – Mar 8, 46 sap days4619991999: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 51 sap days5119981998: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 48 sap days4819971997: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 38 sap days3819951995: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 53 sap days5319941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4819921992: Feb 24 – Mar 27, 53 sap days5319911991: Feb 11 – Mar 17, 56 sap days56
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Springfield. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hampden County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hampden County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (-26% since 2017), with taps -22% and syrup output -11% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hampden County ranks 115 by taps.

Hampden County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221713,5953,4800.26
20172317,3973,9320.23

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 Springfield (89ft), 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

Hampden County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hampden County, Massachusetts?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Springfield and the season winds down around March 29. 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 17 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does Hampden County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Hampden County with 13,595 taps producing 3,480 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 8 Massachusetts' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hampden County get in a season?
On average 48 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Springfield, of which about 17.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (32).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Springfield (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Hampden County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play