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Massachusetts · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex County had 26 maple operations and 7,965 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Lowell, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 31. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 137 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 20
typical year
Season ends
Mar 31
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
54.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,965
#6 of 8 in MA

Sap-flow outlook at Lowell right now

Full Massachusetts forecast →

Forecast for Lowell, MA

Updated Oct 6, 9:38 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 70°
    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 Lowell

Freeze-thaw weather at Lowell 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 20 – Mar 310246Week of Dec 1: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.4 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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 ~Feb 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Lowell, 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 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 13 and Mar 2. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 13 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 27; middle half between Mar 19 and Apr 4. Earliest Mar 7 (2017), latest Apr 11 (2003).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan16%Feb22%Mar29%Apr11%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Middlesex County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Lowell was 2002 with 69 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 37. 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 20 – Mar 25, 50 sap days5020252025: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 47 sap days4720242024: Feb 8 – Mar 10, 50 sap days5020232023: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 69 sap days6920222022: Feb 13 – Mar 14, 49 sap days4920212021: Feb 20 – Mar 23, 53 sap days5320202020: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 60 sap days6020192019: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 60 sap days6020182018: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 58 sap days5820172017: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 48 sap days4820162016: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 57 sap days5720152015: Mar 13 – Apr 8, 37 sap days3720142014: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 50 sap days5020132013: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 67 sap days6720122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 65 sap days6520112011: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 49 sap days4920102010: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 42 sap days4220092009: Feb 28 – Apr 1, 50 sap days5020082008: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 64 sap days6420072007: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 56 sap days5620062006: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 56 sap days5620052005: Mar 2 – Mar 31, 59 sap days5920042004: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 50 sap days5020032003: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4020022002: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 69 sap days6920012001: Mar 10 – Apr 6, 51 sap days5120002000: Feb 8 – Mar 15, 47 sap days4719991999: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 60 sap days6019981998: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 60 sap days6019971997: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5219961996: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 64 sap days6419941994: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 51 sap days5119931993: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 59 sap days5919921992: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 67 sap days6719911991: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 66 sap days66
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Lowell. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Middlesex County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Middlesex County the 2022 Census found 26 farms making syrup (+18% since 2017), with taps +38% and syrup output -13% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.14 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Middlesex County ranks 154 by taps.

Middlesex County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022267,9651,1100.14
2017225,7871,2700.22

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 Lowell (138ft), 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

Middlesex County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Middlesex County, Massachusetts?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Lowell and the season winds down around March 31. 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 1 and as late as Mar 13.
How much maple syrup does Middlesex County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 26 maple operations in Middlesex County with 7,965 taps producing 1,110 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 8 Massachusetts' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Middlesex County get in a season?
On average 54.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Lowell, of which about 18.2 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 (37).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Lowell (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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