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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Delaware County, New York

Delaware County had 37 maple operations and 76,806 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Delhi, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 8
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
54.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
76,806
#10 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Delhi right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Delhi, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    36° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 65°
    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 Delhi

Freeze-thaw weather at Delhi peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.6 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: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.4 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Delhi, 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 6; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 14. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 25 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Apr 2 and Apr 16. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 26 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan11%Feb15%Mar26%Apr25%May8%

36 seasons of sap weather

Delaware County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Delhi was 1999 with 77 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2026 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 27 – Mar 30, 35 sap days3520252025: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 41 sap days4120242024: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 72 sap days7220222022: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 63 sap days6320212021: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 45 sap days4520202020: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 74 sap days7420192019: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 53 sap days5320182018: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 49 sap days4920172017: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5220162016: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 69 sap days6920152015: Mar 25 – Apr 26, 41 sap days4120142014: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 60 sap days6020132013: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 60 sap days6020122012: Feb 14 – Mar 16, 71 sap days7120112011: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4120102010: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 52 sap days5220092009: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 51 sap days5120082008: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 56 sap days5620072007: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 62 sap days6220062006: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 57 sap days5720052005: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 58 sap days5820042004: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220022002: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 70 sap days7020012001: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 42 sap days4220002000: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 53 sap days5319991999: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 77 sap days7719981998: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 58 sap days5819971997: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 54 sap days5419961996: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 53 sap days5319951995: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 66 sap days6619941994: Mar 15 – Apr 12, 54 sap days5419931993: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4819921992: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 52 sap days5219911991: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 49 sap days49
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Delhi. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Delaware County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Delaware County the 2022 Census found 37 farms making syrup (-27% since 2017), with taps +2% and syrup output +21% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Delaware County ranks 39 by taps.

Delaware County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223776,80620,2180.26
20175175,04016,6670.22

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 Delhi (1,673ft), 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

Delaware County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Delaware County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Delhi and the season winds down around April 8. 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 14 and as late as Mar 25.
How much maple syrup does Delaware County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 37 maple operations in Delaware County with 76,806 taps producing 20,218 gallons of syrup, ranking 10 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Delaware County get in a season?
On average 54.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Delhi, of which about 11.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (77 sap days); the leanest was 2026 (35).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Delhi (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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