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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Schuyler County, New York

Schuyler County had 25 maple operations and 65,678 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Watkins Glen, sap usually runs from February 19 to March 25. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 136 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 19
typical year
Season ends
Mar 25
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
65,678
#13 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Watkins Glen right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Watkins Glen, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Schuyler County's season usually opens around February 19, which is 136 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    41° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Watkins Glen

Freeze-thaw weather at Watkins Glen peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 58% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 19 – Mar 250246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 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: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 19
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Watkins Glen, 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 23; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 10 and Mar 4. Earliest Jan 24 (2017), latest Mar 12 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 25; middle half between Mar 15 and Apr 4. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 12 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan16%Feb19%Mar31%Apr13%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Schuyler County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Watkins Glen was 2023 with 55 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 23. 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 9 – Mar 15, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 38 sap days3820242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 32 sap days3220232023: Feb 9 – Mar 16, 55 sap days5520222022: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 41 sap days4120212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3520202020: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 45 sap days4520192019: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620182018: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 44 sap days4420172017: Jan 24 – Feb 27, 35 sap days3520162016: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 49 sap days4920152015: Mar 12 – Apr 6, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 8 – Apr 7, 35 sap days3520132013: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 6 – Mar 31, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 17 – Mar 17, 23 sap days2320092009: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 38 sap days3820072007: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 35 sap days3520062006: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 34 sap days3420052005: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3420042004: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 31 sap days3120032003: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220022002: Feb 1 – Mar 8, 47 sap days4720012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3620002000: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 39 sap days3919991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 35 sap days3519971997: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4119961996: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 37 sap days3719921992: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 42 sap days42
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Watkins Glen. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Schuyler County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Schuyler County the 2022 Census found 25 farms making syrup (-4% since 2017), with taps +63% and syrup output +39% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.34 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.40 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Schuyler County ranks 44 by taps.

Schuyler County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222565,67822,3890.34
20172640,38816,1530.40

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 Watkins Glen (640ft), 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

Schuyler County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Schuyler County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 19 near Watkins Glen and the season winds down around March 25. 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 12.
How much maple syrup does Schuyler County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 25 maple operations in Schuyler County with 65,678 taps producing 22,389 gallons of syrup, ranking 13 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Schuyler County get in a season?
On average 38.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Watkins Glen, of which about 13.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (55 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (23).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Watkins Glen (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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