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Massachusetts · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Hampshire County had 72 maple operations and 78,267 taps in the 2022 Census, number 2 in Massachusetts. Around Amherst, sap usually runs from February 23 to April 3. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 140 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 23
typical year
Season ends
Apr 3
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
55.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
78,267
#2 of 8 in MA

Sap-flow outlook at Amherst right now

Full Massachusetts forecast →

Forecast for Amherst, MA

Updated Oct 6, 9:38 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    29° / 64°

    4h below · 20h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    47° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Amherst

Freeze-thaw weather at Amherst peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 23 – Apr 30246Week of Dec 1: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 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: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 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: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 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 ~Feb 23
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Amherst, 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 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 17 and Mar 6. Earliest Feb 6 (2020), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 30; middle half between Mar 24 and Apr 6. Earliest Mar 3 (2024), latest Apr 16 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan15%Feb20%Mar29%Apr14%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hampshire County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Amherst was 2002 with 79 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2025 with 40. 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 22 – Mar 29, 54 sap days5420252025: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 40 sap days4020242024: Feb 7 – Mar 3, 43 sap days4320232023: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 72 sap days7220222022: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 53 sap days5320212021: Feb 21 – Mar 24, 52 sap days5220202020: Feb 6 – Mar 10, 58 sap days5820192019: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 50 sap days5020182018: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 60 sap days6020172017: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 56 sap days5620162016: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 56 sap days5620152015: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4220142014: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220132013: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 60 sap days6020122012: Feb 12 – Mar 13, 74 sap days7420112011: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420102010: Feb 15 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 50 sap days5020082008: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 63 sap days6320072007: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 52 sap days5220062006: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 62 sap days6220052005: Mar 2 – Mar 31, 59 sap days5920042004: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 55 sap days5520032003: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4220022002: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 79 sap days7920012001: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 62 sap days6220002000: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 60 sap days6019991999: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 64 sap days6419981998: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 60 sap days6019971997: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 53 sap days5319961996: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 46 sap days4619951995: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 59 sap days5919941994: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 54 sap days5419931993: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 49 sap days4919921992: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 60 sap days6019911991: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 59 sap days59
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Amherst. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hampshire County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hampshire County the 2022 Census found 72 farms making syrup (+24% since 2017), with taps +5% and syrup output +6% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.29 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.29 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hampshire County ranks 38 by taps.

Hampshire County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20227278,26723,0620.29
20175874,48721,6830.29

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 Amherst (223ft), 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

Hampshire County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hampshire County, Massachusetts?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 23 near Amherst and the season winds down around April 3. 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 6 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Hampshire County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 72 maple operations in Hampshire County with 78,267 taps producing 23,062 gallons of syrup, ranking 2 of 8 Massachusetts' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hampshire County get in a season?
On average 55.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Amherst, of which about 16.5 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (79 sap days); the leanest was 2025 (40).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Amherst (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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