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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Erie County, New York

Erie County had 42 maple operations and 40,330 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Buffalo, sap usually runs from February 24 to March 29. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 141 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 24
typical year
Season ends
Mar 29
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
29.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
40,330
#22 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Buffalo right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Buffalo, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:58 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Erie County's season usually opens around February 24, which is 141 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 69°
    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 Buffalo

Freeze-thaw weather at Buffalo 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 24 – Mar 290246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 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: 0.3 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 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Buffalo, 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 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 20 and Mar 9. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 16 (1993).
Closing signal
Median Mar 29; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 5. Earliest Mar 2 (2024), latest Apr 19 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan15%Feb19%Mar28%Apr15%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Erie County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Buffalo was 2020 with 45 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 14. 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 23 – Mar 29, 26 sap days2620252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 26 sap days2620242024: Feb 6 – Mar 2, 17 sap days1720232023: Feb 22 – Mar 20, 39 sap days3920222022: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 35 sap days3520212021: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 29 sap days2920202020: Feb 18 – Mar 24, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 35 sap days3520182018: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 29 sap days2920172017: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 21 sap days2120162016: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 32 sap days3220152015: Mar 14 – Apr 6, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 30 sap days3020112011: Mar 9 – Apr 2, 19 sap days1920102010: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 14 sap days1420092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3120082008: Mar 14 – Apr 5, 27 sap days2720072007: Mar 9 – Mar 22, 19 sap days1920062006: Feb 20 – Mar 9, 21 sap days2120052005: Mar 6 – Mar 27, 22 sap days2220042004: Feb 28 – Mar 25, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 32 sap days3220022002: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 33 sap days3319991999: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3819981998: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 35 sap days3519971997: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 39 sap days3919951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 33 sap days3319941994: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 28 sap days2819931993: Mar 16 – Apr 5, 24 sap days2419921992: Mar 8 – Apr 7, 35 sap days3519911991: Feb 20 – Mar 17, 31 sap days31
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Buffalo. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Erie County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Erie County the 2022 Census found 42 farms making syrup (+27% since 2017), with taps +9% and syrup output +9% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Erie County ranks 65 by taps.

Erie County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224240,3309,7480.24
20173336,9018,9670.24

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 Buffalo (581ft), 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

Erie County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Erie County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 24 near Buffalo and the season winds down around March 29. 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 16.
How much maple syrup does Erie County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 42 maple operations in Erie County with 40,330 taps producing 9,748 gallons of syrup, ranking 22 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Erie County get in a season?
On average 29.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Buffalo, of which about 12.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (45 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (14).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Buffalo (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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