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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Columbia County, New York

Columbia County had 11 maple operations and 14,953 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Hudson, sap usually runs from February 17 to March 26. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 134 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 17
typical year
Season ends
Mar 26
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
49.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
14,953
#32 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Hudson right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Hudson, NY

Updated Oct 6, 8:37 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    34° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    46° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 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 Hudson

Freeze-thaw weather at Hudson peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 17 – Mar 260246Week of Dec 1: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.2 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Hudson, 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 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 9 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 25 (2017), latest Mar 10 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 26; middle half between Mar 14 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 28 (2017), latest Apr 12 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan16%Feb22%Mar30%Apr10%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Columbia County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Hudson was 2012 with 72 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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 20 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 40 sap days4020242024: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 45 sap days4520232023: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 57 sap days5720222022: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 19 – Mar 22, 39 sap days3920202020: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 54 sap days5420192019: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 51 sap days5120182018: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 60 sap days6020172017: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 44 sap days4420162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 48 sap days4820152015: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 44 sap days4420132013: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 56 sap days5620122012: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 72 sap days7220112011: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4820102010: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 37 sap days3720092009: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 45 sap days4520082008: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 67 sap days6720072007: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 53 sap days5320062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 48 sap days4820052005: Feb 27 – Mar 27, 51 sap days5120042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 44 sap days4420032003: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 39 sap days3920022002: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 69 sap days6920012001: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 47 sap days4720002000: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 56 sap days5619991999: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 56 sap days5619981998: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 51 sap days5119971997: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 55 sap days5519961996: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 59 sap days5919941994: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 48 sap days4819931993: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4819921992: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 58 sap days5819911991: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 58 sap days58
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Hudson. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Columbia County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Columbia County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (-54% since 2017), with taps -13% and syrup output +19% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.43 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.32 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Columbia County ranks 108 by taps.

Columbia County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221114,9536,4870.43
20172417,2105,4500.32

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 Hudson (82ft), 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

Columbia County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Columbia County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 17 near Hudson and the season winds down around March 26. 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 Jan 25 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does Columbia County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Columbia County with 14,953 taps producing 6,487 gallons of syrup, ranking 32 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Columbia County get in a season?
On average 49.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Hudson, 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 2012 (72 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (34).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Hudson (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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