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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Cayuga County, New York

Cayuga County had 14 maple operations and 52,926 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Auburn, sap usually runs from February 22 to March 31. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 139 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 22
typical year
Season ends
Mar 31
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
52,926
#19 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Auburn right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Auburn, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Cayuga County's season usually opens around February 22, which is 139 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    41° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 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 Auburn

Freeze-thaw weather at Auburn peaks in the weeks of Feb 9 to Apr 6, which hold about 54% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 22 – Mar 310246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 22
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Auburn, 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 18 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 31; middle half between Mar 22 and Apr 7. Earliest Mar 7 (2017), latest Apr 14 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan14%Feb19%Mar29%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Cayuga County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Auburn was 2012 with 56 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 26. 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 22 – Mar 29, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420242024: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 31 sap days3120232023: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 51 sap days5120222022: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 44 sap days4420212021: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 35 sap days3520202020: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 52 sap days5220192019: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 47 sap days4720182018: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 45 sap days4520172017: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 41 sap days4120132013: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 56 sap days5620112011: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 32 sap days3220102010: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 26 sap days2620092009: Feb 26 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 40 sap days4020072007: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 34 sap days3420062006: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 43 sap days4320042004: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 27 sap days2720022002: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 46 sap days4620012001: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 34 sap days3419991999: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 39 sap days3919981998: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 31 sap days3119971997: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 48 sap days4819941994: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3519931993: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 38 sap days3819921992: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 41 sap days4119911991: Feb 19 – Mar 22, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Auburn. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Cayuga County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Cayuga County the 2022 Census found 14 farms making syrup (-22% since 2017), with taps +17% and syrup output +42% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.29 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Cayuga County ranks 56 by taps.

Cayuga County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221452,92615,1730.29
20171845,24010,6790.24

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 Auburn (686ft), 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 York'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 York, 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

Cayuga County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Cayuga County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 22 near Auburn and the season winds down around March 31. 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 1 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Cayuga County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 14 maple operations in Cayuga County with 52,926 taps producing 15,173 gallons of syrup, ranking 19 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Cayuga County get in a season?
On average 38.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Auburn, of which about 12.5 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (56 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Auburn (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 York. 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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