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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Franklin County, New York

Franklin County had 76 maple operations and 135,217 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in New York. Around Malone, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 16
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
35.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
135,217
#5 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Malone right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Malone, NY

Updated Oct 6, 2:25 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    33° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 54°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    39° / 56°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 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 Malone

Freeze-thaw weather at Malone peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.8 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: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Malone, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 8 and Mar 20. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Mar 24 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 9 and Apr 20. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 28 (1992).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan10%Feb14%Mar29%Apr29%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Franklin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Malone was 2020 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 24. 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: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 33 sap days3320242024: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 44 sap days4420212021: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420202020: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220192019: Mar 21 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 24 – Apr 23, 36 sap days3620172017: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3620162016: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 34 sap days3420132013: Mar 16 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3820122012: Feb 16 – Mar 12, 41 sap days4120112011: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 36 sap days3620102010: Mar 2 – Mar 28, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420072007: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520062006: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520052005: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 33 sap days3320042004: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3420032003: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 24 sap days2420022002: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 38 sap days3820012001: Mar 22 – Apr 20, 28 sap days2820002000: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 36 sap days3619991999: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 44 sap days4419981998: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3019971997: Mar 23 – Apr 20, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 22 – Apr 26, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 32 sap days3219931993: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 29 sap days2919921992: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 30 sap days3019911991: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Malone. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Franklin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Franklin County the 2022 Census found 76 farms making syrup (+33% since 2017), with taps +81% and syrup output +32% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.17 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.24 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Franklin County ranks 23 by taps.

Franklin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202276135,21723,4830.17
20175774,80917,7410.24

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 Malone (830ft), 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

Franklin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Franklin County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near Malone and the season winds down around April 16. 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 16 and as late as Mar 24.
How much maple syrup does Franklin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 76 maple operations in Franklin County with 135,217 taps producing 23,483 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Franklin County get in a season?
On average 35.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Malone, of which about 10.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Malone (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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