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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Merrimack County, New Hampshire

Merrimack County had 53 maple operations and 43,233 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Concord, sap usually runs from February 25 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 142 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 25
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
50
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
43,233
#6 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Concord right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Concord, NH

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    30° / 65°

    4h below · 19h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    40° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 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 Concord

Freeze-thaw weather at Concord 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 25 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 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: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 25
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Concord, 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 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 24 and Mar 9. Earliest Feb 11 (2016), latest Mar 18 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Mar 29 and Apr 11. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 20 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan14%Feb19%Mar29%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Merrimack County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Concord was 2002 with 67 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 34. 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 27 – Mar 30, 35 sap days3520252025: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 39 sap days3920242024: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 55 sap days5520232023: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 61 sap days6120222022: Feb 19 – Mar 23, 42 sap days4220212021: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4320202020: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 58 sap days5820192019: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 41 sap days4120182018: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 55 sap days5520172017: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 47 sap days4720162016: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 59 sap days5920152015: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4020142014: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 42 sap days4220132013: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 58 sap days5820122012: Feb 15 – Mar 13, 62 sap days6220112011: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 39 sap days3920102010: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 45 sap days4520092009: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520082008: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 56 sap days5620072007: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 54 sap days5420062006: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 60 sap days6020052005: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 59 sap days5920042004: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5020032003: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3420022002: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 67 sap days6720012001: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 46 sap days4620002000: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 56 sap days5619981998: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 59 sap days5919971997: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 46 sap days4619961996: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 46 sap days4619951995: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 54 sap days5419941994: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 50 sap days5019921992: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 56 sap days5619911991: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 54 sap days54
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Concord. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Merrimack County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Merrimack County the 2022 Census found 53 farms making syrup (-27% since 2017), with taps -35% and syrup output -45% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.25 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Merrimack County ranks 62 by taps.

Merrimack County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225343,2339,0960.21
20177366,52516,4720.25

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 Concord (299ft), 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

Merrimack County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Merrimack County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 25 near Concord and the season winds down around April 6. 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 11 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Merrimack County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 53 maple operations in Merrimack County with 43,233 taps producing 9,096 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Merrimack County get in a season?
On average 50 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Concord, of which about 14.5 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (67 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (34).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Concord (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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