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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Sullivan County, New York

Sullivan County had 23 maple operations and 76,535 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Monticello, sap usually runs from February 27 to April 5. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 144 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 27
typical year
Season ends
Apr 5
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
42.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
76,535
#11 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Monticello right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Monticello, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    36° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    43° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 64°
    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 Monticello

Freeze-thaw weather at Monticello peaks in the weeks of Feb 23 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 27 – Apr 50246Week of Dec 1: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.0 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 27
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Monticello, 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 3; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 10. Earliest Feb 11 (2024), latest Mar 17 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 5; middle half between Mar 28 and Apr 10. Earliest Mar 13 (2024), latest Apr 21 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan12%Feb18%Mar31%Apr18%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Sullivan County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Monticello was 2002 with 63 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 27. 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, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4120242024: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 42 sap days4220232023: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 56 sap days5620222022: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 45 sap days4520212021: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 36 sap days3620202020: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 60 sap days6020192019: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 41 sap days4120182018: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 48 sap days4820172017: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3420162016: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 52 sap days5220152015: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520132013: Mar 12 – Apr 7, 46 sap days4620122012: Feb 14 – Mar 14, 60 sap days6020112011: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 34 sap days3420092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 41 sap days4120072007: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 41 sap days4120062006: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 44 sap days4420052005: Mar 6 – Mar 27, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 27 sap days2720022002: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 63 sap days6320012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3520002000: Feb 19 – Mar 22, 45 sap days4519991999: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 50 sap days5019981998: Feb 22 – Mar 26, 48 sap days4819971997: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 45 sap days4519961996: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 33 sap days3319951995: Feb 18 – Mar 20, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 44 sap days4419931993: Mar 12 – Apr 8, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4219911991: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 51 sap days51
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Monticello. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Sullivan County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Sullivan County the 2022 Census found 23 farms making syrup (-15% since 2017), with taps +3% and syrup output +26% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.19 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Sullivan County ranks 40 by taps.

Sullivan County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222376,53517,2880.23
20172773,96613,7390.19

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 Monticello (1,463ft), 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

Sullivan County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Sullivan County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 27 near Monticello and the season winds down around April 5. 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 11 and as late as Mar 17.
How much maple syrup does Sullivan County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 23 maple operations in Sullivan County with 76,535 taps producing 17,288 gallons of syrup, ranking 11 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Sullivan County get in a season?
On average 42.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Monticello, of which about 12.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (63 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (27).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Monticello (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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