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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Chemung County, New York

Chemung County had 9 maple operations and 6,421 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Elmira, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 137 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 20
typical year
Season ends
Mar 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
50.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,421
#40 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Elmira right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Elmira, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Chemung County's season usually opens around February 20, which is 137 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    40° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    47° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 67°
    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 Elmira

Freeze-thaw weather at Elmira peaks in the weeks of Feb 9 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 20 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 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: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 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: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 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 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Elmira, 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 24; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 18 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 28; middle half between Mar 22 and Apr 8. Earliest Mar 7 (2017), latest Apr 16 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan13%Feb19%Mar28%Apr20%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Chemung County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Elmira was 2020 with 77 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 35. 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 18 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920252025: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 36 sap days3620232023: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 59 sap days5920222022: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 54 sap days5420212021: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 50 sap days5020202020: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 77 sap days7720192019: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 52 sap days5220182018: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 57 sap days5720172017: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 50 sap days5020162016: Feb 11 – Mar 14, 58 sap days5820152015: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 52 sap days5220132013: Mar 8 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920122012: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 66 sap days6620112011: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 40 sap days4020092009: Feb 27 – Mar 26, 45 sap days4520082008: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 54 sap days5420072007: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 50 sap days5020062006: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 55 sap days5520052005: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 57 sap days5720042004: Feb 27 – Mar 26, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 35 sap days3520022002: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 73 sap days7320012001: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 45 sap days4520002000: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 48 sap days4819991999: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 61 sap days6119981998: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 53 sap days5319971997: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 52 sap days5219961996: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 47 sap days4719931993: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 45 sap days4519921992: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 50 sap days5019911991: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 54 sap days54
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Elmira. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Chemung County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Chemung County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (-18% since 2017), with taps +42% and syrup output +208% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.34 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Chemung County ranks 170 by taps.

Chemung County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202296,4212,1570.34
2017114,5097010.15

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 Elmira (909ft), 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

Chemung County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Chemung County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Elmira 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 1 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Chemung County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Chemung County with 6,421 taps producing 2,157 gallons of syrup, ranking 40 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Chemung County get in a season?
On average 50.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Elmira, of which about 13.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (77 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (35).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Elmira (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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