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New Hampshire · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Strafford County, New Hampshire

Strafford County had 44 maple operations and 7,662 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Dover, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 28. 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 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
48.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
7,662
#10 of 10 in NH

Sap-flow outlook at Dover right now

Full New Hampshire forecast →

Forecast for Dover, 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
    50° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 71°
    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 Dover

Freeze-thaw weather at Dover peaks in the weeks of Feb 9 to Apr 6, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.4 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: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Dover, 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 20 and Mar 5. Earliest Feb 9 (2016), latest Mar 16 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Mar 30; middle half between Mar 26 and Apr 8. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 20 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan16%Feb20%Mar28%Apr15%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Strafford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Dover was 2023 with 66 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 33. 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, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 46 sap days4620242024: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 55 sap days5520232023: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 66 sap days6620222022: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 43 sap days4320212021: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4920202020: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 56 sap days5620192019: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4420182018: Feb 24 – Mar 27, 52 sap days5220172017: Feb 26 – Mar 30, 46 sap days4620162016: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 53 sap days5320152015: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 42 sap days4220132013: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 57 sap days5720122012: Feb 13 – Mar 12, 55 sap days5520112011: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 43 sap days4320102010: Feb 14 – Mar 17, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 45 sap days4520082008: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 50 sap days5020072007: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 43 sap days4320062006: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4220052005: Mar 4 – Mar 28, 49 sap days4920042004: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 51 sap days5120032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 33 sap days3320022002: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 59 sap days5920012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 45 sap days4520002000: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 60 sap days6019981998: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 56 sap days5619971997: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 57 sap days5719961996: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 53 sap days5319941994: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 41 sap days4119931993: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4319921992: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 58 sap days5819911991: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 56 sap days56
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Dover. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Strafford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Strafford County the 2022 Census found 44 farms making syrup (+63% since 2017), with taps +45% and syrup output +47% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.22 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Strafford County ranks 156 by taps.

Strafford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022447,6621,7150.22
2017275,2741,1700.22

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 Dover (112ft), 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

Strafford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Strafford County, New Hampshire?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Dover and the season winds down around March 28. 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 9 and as late as Mar 16.
How much maple syrup does Strafford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 44 maple operations in Strafford County with 7,662 taps producing 1,715 gallons of syrup, ranking 10 of 10 New Hampshire's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Strafford County get in a season?
On average 48.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Dover, of which about 16.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (66 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (33).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Dover (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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