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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Carroll County, New Hampshire

Carroll County had 20 maple operations and 9,271 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ossipee, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 15. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 152 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 7
typical year
Season ends
Apr 15
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
46.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
9,271
#9 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Ossipee right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Ossipee, NH

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

Only marginal days ahead

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    31° / 63°

    2h below · 21h above

    Maybe a light run
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    40° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 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 Ossipee

Freeze-thaw weather at Ossipee peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 13, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 7 – Apr 150246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.7 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 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ossipee, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 10 and Mar 19. Earliest Feb 19 (2012), latest Mar 24 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 17; middle half between Apr 11 and Apr 20. Earliest Mar 17 (2012), latest Apr 26 (1997).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan9%Feb15%Mar32%Apr27%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Carroll County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ossipee was 1999 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 39 sap days3920252025: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 34 sap days3420242024: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 58 sap days5820222022: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4220212021: Mar 6 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320202020: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 57 sap days5720192019: Mar 19 – Apr 18, 40 sap days4020182018: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 52 sap days5220172017: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220162016: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 58 sap days5820152015: Mar 24 – Apr 22, 32 sap days3220142014: Mar 21 – Apr 21, 36 sap days3620132013: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 51 sap days5120122012: Feb 19 – Mar 17, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 35 sap days3520102010: Feb 27 – Mar 29, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 46 sap days4620082008: Mar 20 – Apr 19, 50 sap days5020072007: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 45 sap days4520062006: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 51 sap days5120052005: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 52 sap days5220042004: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 49 sap days4920032003: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 37 sap days3720022002: Mar 12 – Apr 13, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 47 sap days4720002000: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 57 sap days5719991999: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 64 sap days6419981998: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 47 sap days4719971997: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 44 sap days4419961996: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 42 sap days4219951995: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 50 sap days5019941994: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 46 sap days4619931993: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 38 sap days3819921992: Mar 21 – Apr 17, 56 sap days5619911991: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 60 sap days60
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ossipee. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Carroll County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Carroll County the 2022 Census found 20 farms making syrup (-57% since 2017), with taps -66% and syrup output -65% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Carroll County ranks 142 by taps.

Carroll County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022209,2712,1420.23
20174627,0666,0860.23

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 Ossipee (955ft), 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

Carroll County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Carroll County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near Ossipee and the season winds down around April 15. 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 19 and as late as Mar 24.
How much maple syrup does Carroll County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 20 maple operations in Carroll County with 9,271 taps producing 2,142 gallons of syrup, ranking 9 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Carroll County get in a season?
On average 46.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ossipee, of which about 14.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (32).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ossipee (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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