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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Herkimer County, New York

Herkimer County had 12 maple operations and 4,204 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Herkimer, sap usually runs from February 27 to April 5. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 144 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 27
typical year
Season ends
Apr 5
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,204
#43 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Herkimer right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Herkimer, NY

Updated Oct 6, 8:37 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    32° / 68°

    0h below · 21h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    44° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 70°
    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 Herkimer

Freeze-thaw weather at Herkimer peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 27 – Apr 50246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 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: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 27
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Herkimer, 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 3; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 12. Earliest Feb 10 (2024), latest Mar 19 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 12. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 23 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb18%Mar31%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Herkimer County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Herkimer was 2012 with 60 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 27. 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, 30 sap days3020252025: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 32 sap days3220242024: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 39 sap days3920212021: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 31 sap days3120202020: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 55 sap days5520192019: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 42 sap days4220182018: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 48 sap days4820172017: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3420162016: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 44 sap days4420132013: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 14 – Mar 13, 60 sap days6020112011: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 30 sap days3020102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 39 sap days3920082008: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 38 sap days3820072007: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 39 sap days3920062006: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 37 sap days3720052005: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 41 sap days4120042004: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 30 sap days3020032003: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 28 sap days2820022002: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 50 sap days5020012001: Mar 17 – Apr 20, 29 sap days2920002000: Mar 1 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3519991999: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 39 sap days3919981998: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719971997: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 48 sap days4819941994: Mar 13 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3819911991: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Herkimer. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Herkimer County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Herkimer County the 2022 Census found 12 farms making syrup (-33% since 2017), with taps -60% and syrup output -46% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.28 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Herkimer County ranks 206 by taps.

Herkimer County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022124,2041,1930.28
20171810,6152,2190.21

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 Herkimer (597ft), 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

Herkimer County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Herkimer County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 27 near Herkimer and the season winds down around April 5. 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 10 and as late as Mar 19.
How much maple syrup does Herkimer County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 12 maple operations in Herkimer County with 4,204 taps producing 1,193 gallons of syrup, ranking 43 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Herkimer County get in a season?
On average 38.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Herkimer, of which about 11.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (60 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (27).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Herkimer (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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