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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Belknap County, New Hampshire

Belknap County had 42 maple operations and 24,600 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Laconia, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 10. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 10
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
43.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
24,600
#7 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Laconia right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Laconia, NH

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Belknap County's season usually opens around March 2, which is 147 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    37° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    41° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    48° / 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 Laconia

Freeze-thaw weather at Laconia peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 100246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 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: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 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 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Laconia, 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 10; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 3 and Mar 15. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Mar 19 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 12; middle half between Apr 4 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 21 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan11%Feb18%Mar34%Apr19%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Belknap County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Laconia was 2018 with 56 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2025 with 28. 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 7 – Apr 9, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 28 sap days2820242024: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220222022: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 35 sap days3520212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 35 sap days3520202020: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 52 sap days5220182018: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 56 sap days5620172017: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 41 sap days4120162016: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3920132013: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 45 sap days4520122012: Feb 16 – Mar 13, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520102010: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 31 sap days3120092009: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 47 sap days4720072007: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 47 sap days4720062006: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 47 sap days4720052005: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 48 sap days4820042004: Mar 13 – Apr 13, 44 sap days4420032003: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 38 sap days3820022002: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 54 sap days5420012001: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 46 sap days4620002000: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 53 sap days5319981998: Feb 26 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4819971997: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 45 sap days4519961996: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3519951995: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 45 sap days4519911991: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 51 sap days51
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Laconia. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Belknap County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Belknap County the 2022 Census found 42 farms making syrup (-12% since 2017), with taps +29% and syrup output +50% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Belknap County ranks 84 by taps.

Belknap County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224224,6005,0790.21
20174819,1083,3900.18

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 Laconia (610ft), 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 New Hampshire'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 — New Hampshire, 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

Belknap County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Belknap County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Laconia 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 16 and as late as Mar 19.
How much maple syrup does Belknap County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 42 maple operations in Belknap County with 24,600 taps producing 5,079 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Belknap County get in a season?
On average 43.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Laconia, of which about 14.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (56 sap days); the leanest was 2025 (28).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Laconia (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for New Hampshire. 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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