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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

Hillsborough County had 72 maple operations and 54,267 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in New Hampshire. Around Manchester, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 27. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 135 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 18
typical year
Season ends
Mar 27
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
50.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
54,267
#5 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Manchester right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Manchester, NH

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    36° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    47° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    43° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 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 Manchester

Freeze-thaw weather at Manchester peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 48% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Manchester, 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 26; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 21 and Mar 6. Earliest Feb 10 (2016), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 29; middle half between Mar 24 and Apr 8. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 16 (2008).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan15%Feb20%Mar29%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Hillsborough County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Manchester was 2023 with 67 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 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: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 40 sap days4020252025: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 44 sap days4420242024: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 56 sap days5620232023: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 67 sap days6720222022: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 43 sap days4320212021: Feb 22 – Mar 23, 47 sap days4720202020: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 59 sap days5920192019: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 45 sap days4520182018: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 56 sap days5620172017: Feb 26 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4320162016: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 54 sap days5420152015: Mar 14 – Apr 8, 40 sap days4020142014: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 46 sap days4620132013: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 58 sap days5820122012: Feb 14 – Mar 13, 60 sap days6020112011: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520102010: Feb 18 – Mar 17, 34 sap days3420092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 44 sap days4420082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 57 sap days5720072007: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4920062006: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 48 sap days4820052005: Mar 3 – Mar 27, 53 sap days5320042004: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 47 sap days4720032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3220022002: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 61 sap days6120012001: Mar 13 – Apr 6, 46 sap days4620002000: Feb 18 – Mar 24, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 27 – Mar 27, 64 sap days6419981998: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 56 sap days5619971997: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 59 sap days5919961996: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 49 sap days4919951995: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 57 sap days5719941994: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 50 sap days5019931993: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 54 sap days5419921992: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 61 sap days6119911991: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 59 sap days59
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Manchester. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Hillsborough County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Hillsborough County the 2022 Census found 72 farms making syrup (+9% since 2017), with taps +1% and syrup output +18% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.29 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.25 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Hillsborough County ranks 54 by taps.

Hillsborough County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20227254,26715,6340.29
20176653,91113,2890.25

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 Manchester (236ft), 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

Hillsborough County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Manchester and the season winds down around March 27. 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 10 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Hillsborough County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 72 maple operations in Hillsborough County with 54,267 taps producing 15,634 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Hillsborough County get in a season?
On average 50.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Manchester, of which about 15.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (67 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (32).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Manchester (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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