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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Cheshire County, New Hampshire

Cheshire County had 51 maple operations and 63,030 taps in the 2022 Census, number 4 in New Hampshire. Around Keene, sap usually runs from February 26 to April 7. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 143 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 26
typical year
Season ends
Apr 7
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
55.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
63,030
#4 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Keene right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Keene, NH

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    30° / 64°

    4h below · 19h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 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 Keene

Freeze-thaw weather at Keene peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 50% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 26 – Apr 70246Week of Dec 1: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 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 ~Feb 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Keene, 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 6; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 14 (2024), latest Mar 18 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 14. Earliest Mar 14 (2012), latest Apr 20 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan12%Feb18%Mar29%Apr20%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Cheshire County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Keene was 2012 with 75 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 39. 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 28 – Mar 30, 50 sap days5020252025: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 54 sap days5420232023: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 71 sap days7120222022: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 54 sap days5420212021: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 49 sap days4920202020: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 65 sap days6520192019: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 51 sap days5120182018: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 64 sap days6420172017: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 47 sap days4720162016: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 62 sap days6220152015: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4220142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220132013: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 61 sap days6120122012: Feb 15 – Mar 14, 75 sap days7520112011: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4020102010: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 43 sap days4320092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220082008: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 61 sap days6120072007: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 59 sap days5920062006: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 61 sap days6120052005: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 58 sap days5820042004: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 57 sap days5720032003: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3920022002: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 69 sap days6920012001: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 47 sap days4720002000: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 55 sap days5519991999: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 68 sap days6819981998: Feb 24 – Mar 26, 59 sap days5919971997: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 56 sap days5619961996: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 13 – Apr 12, 54 sap days5419931993: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4519921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 63 sap days6319911991: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 60 sap days60
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Keene. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Cheshire County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Cheshire County the 2022 Census found 51 farms making syrup (-35% since 2017), with taps -22% and syrup output -26% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Cheshire County ranks 46 by taps.

Cheshire County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225163,03013,1040.21
20177980,37317,6450.22

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 Keene (499ft), 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

Cheshire County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Cheshire County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 26 near Keene and the season winds down around April 7. 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 14 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Cheshire County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 51 maple operations in Cheshire County with 63,030 taps producing 13,104 gallons of syrup, ranking 4 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Cheshire County get in a season?
On average 55.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Keene, 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 2012 (75 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (39).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Keene (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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