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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Otsego County, New York

Otsego County had 44 maple operations and 73,799 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Cooperstown, sap usually runs from March 1 to April 8. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 146 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 1
typical year
Season ends
Apr 8
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
49
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
73,799
#12 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Cooperstown right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Cooperstown, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Otsego County's season usually opens around March 1, which is 146 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    37° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 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 Cooperstown

Freeze-thaw weather at Cooperstown peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 13, which hold about 55% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 1 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 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: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.2 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 1
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Cooperstown, 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 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 27 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 13 (2012), latest Mar 23 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Apr 2 and Apr 14. Earliest Mar 16 (2012), latest Apr 26 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan10%Feb16%Mar29%Apr24%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Otsego County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Cooperstown was 2020 with 71 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2026 with 34. 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, 34 sap days3420252025: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 36 sap days3620242024: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 39 sap days3920232023: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 58 sap days5820222022: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 52 sap days5220212021: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 40 sap days4020202020: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 71 sap days7120192019: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 51 sap days5120182018: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 52 sap days5220172017: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 46 sap days4620162016: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 58 sap days5820152015: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 38 sap days3820142014: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 52 sap days5220132013: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 53 sap days5320122012: Feb 13 – Mar 16, 65 sap days6520112011: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 45 sap days4520092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820082008: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 52 sap days5220072007: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 46 sap days4620062006: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 51 sap days5120052005: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5020042004: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 36 sap days3620022002: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 60 sap days6020012001: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 40 sap days4020002000: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 49 sap days4919991999: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 64 sap days6419981998: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 55 sap days5519971997: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 49 sap days4919961996: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 55 sap days5519951995: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 15 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819931993: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 40 sap days4019921992: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 46 sap days4619911991: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 50 sap days50
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Cooperstown. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Otsego County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Otsego County the 2022 Census found 44 farms making syrup (-2% since 2017), with taps -5% and syrup output +14% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Otsego County ranks 42 by taps.

Otsego County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224473,79920,1990.27
20174577,93217,7040.23

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 Cooperstown (1,332ft), 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

Otsego County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Otsego County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 1 near Cooperstown and the season winds down around April 8. 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 13 and as late as Mar 23.
How much maple syrup does Otsego County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 44 maple operations in Otsego County with 73,799 taps producing 20,199 gallons of syrup, ranking 12 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Otsego County get in a season?
On average 49 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Cooperstown, of which about 12.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (71 sap days); the leanest was 2026 (34).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Cooperstown (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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