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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Fulton County, New York

Fulton County had 14 maple operations and 44,239 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Johnstown, sap usually runs from March 4 to April 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 149 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 4
typical year
Season ends
Apr 9
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
44,239
#20 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Johnstown right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Johnstown, NY

Updated Oct 6, 8:37 AM EDT

Only marginal days ahead

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    31° / 67°

    2h below · 20h above

    Maybe a light run
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 60°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    40° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    41° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    48° / 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 Johnstown

Freeze-thaw weather at Johnstown peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 45% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 4 – Apr 90246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 4
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Johnstown, 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 8; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 2 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 16 (2012), latest Mar 22 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Apr 3 and Apr 15. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 23 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan10%Feb16%Mar33%Apr21%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Fulton County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Johnstown was 2012 with 54 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 20. 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 4 – Apr 8, 29 sap days2920252025: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 29 sap days2920242024: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420222022: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 38 sap days3820212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720202020: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 51 sap days5120192019: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 39 sap days3920182018: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 41 sap days4120172017: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 44 sap days4420152015: Mar 19 – Apr 16, 20 sap days2020142014: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4020132013: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 16 – Mar 13, 54 sap days5420112011: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 23 sap days2320102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 29 sap days2920092009: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720072007: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 39 sap days3920062006: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 44 sap days4420052005: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4820042004: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 29 sap days2920032003: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 36 sap days3620022002: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 31 sap days3120002000: Mar 1 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4119991999: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 46 sap days4619981998: Feb 24 – Mar 26, 44 sap days4419971997: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4119961996: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 15 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4519931993: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 18 – Apr 17, 40 sap days4019911991: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 42 sap days42
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Johnstown. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Fulton County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Fulton County the 2022 Census found 14 farms making syrup (+40% since 2017), with taps +248% and syrup output +481% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.34 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Fulton County ranks 60 by taps.

Fulton County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221444,23914,8070.34
20171012,7052,5470.20

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 Johnstown (689ft), 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

Fulton County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Fulton County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 4 near Johnstown and the season winds down around April 9. 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 22.
How much maple syrup does Fulton County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 14 maple operations in Fulton County with 44,239 taps producing 14,807 gallons of syrup, ranking 20 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Fulton County get in a season?
On average 38.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Johnstown, of which about 10.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (54 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Johnstown (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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