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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Orleans County, New York

Orleans County had 13 maple operations and 2,227 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Albion, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 138 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 21
typical year
Season ends
Mar 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
34.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,227
#46 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Albion right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Albion, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:58 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Orleans County's season usually opens around February 21, which is 138 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 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 Albion

Freeze-thaw weather at Albion 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 21 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Albion, 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 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 18 and Mar 6. Earliest Jan 24 (2017), latest Mar 10 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Mar 28; middle half between Mar 19 and Apr 5. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 13 (2003).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan15%Feb20%Mar29%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Orleans County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Albion was 1992 with 45 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 18. 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 22 – Mar 29, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 33 sap days3320242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 23 sap days2320232023: Feb 21 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3820222022: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 42 sap days4220212021: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 26 sap days2620202020: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 42 sap days4220192019: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 37 sap days3720182018: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 39 sap days3920172017: Jan 24 – Feb 27, 28 sap days2820162016: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 10 – Apr 1, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 9 – Apr 6, 33 sap days3320132013: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 42 sap days4220112011: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 24 sap days2420102010: Mar 6 – Mar 28, 18 sap days1820092009: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020072007: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 27 sap days2720062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 31 sap days3120052005: Mar 3 – Mar 27, 29 sap days2920042004: Feb 27 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2820032003: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 34 sap days3420022002: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420012001: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920002000: Feb 3 – Mar 6, 33 sap days3319991999: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719971997: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 40 sap days4019941994: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 30 sap days3019921992: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 45 sap days4519911991: Feb 19 – Mar 17, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Albion. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Orleans County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Orleans County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (+225% since 2017), with taps +4267% and syrup output +1400% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.07 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Orleans County ranks 247 by taps.

Orleans County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022132,2271650.07
2017451110.22

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 Albion (512ft), 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

Orleans County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Orleans County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Albion and the season winds down around March 28. 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 Jan 24 and as late as Mar 10.
How much maple syrup does Orleans County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Orleans County with 2,227 taps producing 165 gallons of syrup, ranking 46 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Orleans County get in a season?
On average 34.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Albion, of which about 13 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1992 (45 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Albion (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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