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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Seneca County, New York

Seneca County had 9 maple operations and 1,260 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Waterloo, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 26. 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 26
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
32.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,260
#49 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Waterloo right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Waterloo, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Seneca 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
    40° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 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 Waterloo

Freeze-thaw weather at Waterloo 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 260246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 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: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 Waterloo, 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 16 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 31 (2017), latest Mar 14 (2009).
Closing signal
Median Mar 26; middle half between Mar 18 and Apr 4. Earliest Mar 5 (2000), latest Apr 14 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan17%Feb20%Mar29%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Seneca County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Waterloo was 1995 with 47 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 15. 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 19 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2820252025: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 24 sap days2420232023: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320222022: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 36 sap days3620212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 31 sap days3120202020: Feb 14 – Mar 20, 44 sap days4420192019: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 43 sap days4320182018: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 36 sap days3620172017: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 31 sap days3120162016: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 13 – Apr 6, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 9 – Apr 6, 31 sap days3120132013: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 33 sap days3320122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 38 sap days3820112011: Mar 4 – Mar 30, 20 sap days2020102010: Feb 17 – Mar 7, 15 sap days1520092009: Mar 14 – Mar 25, 28 sap days2820082008: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 28 sap days2820072007: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 29 sap days2920062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 26 sap days2620052005: Mar 3 – Mar 26, 25 sap days2520042004: Mar 8 – Mar 24, 22 sap days2220032003: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120022002: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 34 sap days3420012001: Mar 9 – Apr 4, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 3 – Mar 5, 33 sap days3319991999: Feb 25 – Mar 27, 34 sap days3419981998: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 30 sap days3019971997: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 33 sap days3319961996: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 15 – Mar 12, 47 sap days4719941994: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3019931993: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 41 sap days4119911991: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Waterloo. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Seneca County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Seneca County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (+50% since 2017), with taps -71% and syrup output -72% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Seneca County ranks 271 by taps.

Seneca County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202291,2602860.23
201764,3881,0200.23

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 Waterloo (499ft), 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

Seneca County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Seneca County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Waterloo and the season winds down around March 26. 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 31 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Seneca County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Seneca County with 1,260 taps producing 286 gallons of syrup, ranking 49 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Seneca County get in a season?
On average 32.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Waterloo, of which about 11.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1995 (47 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (15).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Waterloo (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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