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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Oneida County, New York

Oneida County had 35 maple operations and 33,770 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Utica, sap usually runs from February 26 to April 4. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 143 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 26
typical year
Season ends
Apr 4
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
36.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
33,770
#23 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Utica right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Utica, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Oneida County's season usually opens around February 26, which is 143 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    38° / 68°

    0h below · 24h 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
    42° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Utica

Freeze-thaw weather at Utica peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 51% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 26 – Apr 40246Week of Dec 1: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 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 ~Feb 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Utica, 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 2; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 11. Earliest Feb 9 (2024), latest Mar 18 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 4; middle half between Mar 29 and Apr 10. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan12%Feb19%Mar30%Apr18%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Oneida County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Utica was 2020 with 53 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 26. 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 25 – Mar 30, 31 sap days3120252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 29 sap days2920242024: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 32 sap days3220232023: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 38 sap days3820212021: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120202020: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 53 sap days5320192019: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4120182018: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 47 sap days4720172017: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3420162016: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 48 sap days4820152015: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420132013: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 13 – Mar 13, 51 sap days5120112011: Mar 9 – Apr 8, 27 sap days2720102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 32 sap days3220092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 35 sap days3520072007: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 37 sap days3720062006: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220052005: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 37 sap days3720042004: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 29 sap days2920022002: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 40 sap days4020012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 26 sap days2620002000: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 32 sap days3219991999: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 35 sap days3519981998: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 31 sap days3119971997: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 33 sap days3319961996: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 33 sap days3319921992: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3519911991: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 35 sap days35
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Utica. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Oneida County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Oneida County the 2022 Census found 35 farms making syrup (-40% since 2017), with taps +11% and syrup output +45% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Oneida County ranks 72 by taps.

Oneida County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223533,7708,6020.26
20175830,4585,9460.20

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 Utica (633ft), 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

Oneida County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Oneida County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 26 near Utica and the season winds down around April 4. 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 9 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Oneida County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 35 maple operations in Oneida County with 33,770 taps producing 8,602 gallons of syrup, ranking 23 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Oneida County get in a season?
On average 36.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Utica, of which about 11.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (53 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Utica (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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