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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Tompkins County, New York

Tompkins County had 13 maple operations and 3,087 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ithaca, sap usually runs from February 19 to March 26. 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 26
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
45.2
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
3,087
#44 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Ithaca right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Ithaca, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    47° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 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 Ithaca

Freeze-thaw weather at Ithaca peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 19 – Mar 260246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 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: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 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 19
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ithaca, 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 15 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 25 (2017), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 26; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 7. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 16 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan14%Feb18%Mar28%Apr19%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Tompkins County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ithaca was 2023 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 31. 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 26, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 41 sap days4120232023: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 64 sap days6420222022: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 48 sap days4820212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 39 sap days3920202020: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 58 sap days5820192019: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4220182018: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 54 sap days5420172017: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 42 sap days4220162016: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 54 sap days5420152015: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 44 sap days4420132013: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 57 sap days5720112011: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620102010: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 31 sap days3120092009: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620082008: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920072007: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 43 sap days4320062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 40 sap days4020052005: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 39 sap days3920042004: Feb 24 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920032003: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 33 sap days3320022002: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 58 sap days5820012001: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 45 sap days4520002000: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 47 sap days4719991999: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 58 sap days5819981998: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 42 sap days4219971997: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 45 sap days4519961996: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 54 sap days5419941994: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5019931993: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 44 sap days4419921992: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 51 sap days5119911991: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ithaca. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Tompkins County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Tompkins County the 2022 Census found 13 farms making syrup (+30% since 2017), with taps -21% and syrup output -42% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.35 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Tompkins County ranks 228 by taps.

Tompkins County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022133,0877940.26
2017103,8881,3620.35

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 Ithaca (492ft), 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

Tompkins County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Tompkins County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 19 near Ithaca 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 25 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Tompkins County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 13 maple operations in Tompkins County with 3,087 taps producing 794 gallons of syrup, ranking 44 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Tompkins County get in a season?
On average 45.2 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ithaca, 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 2023 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (31).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ithaca (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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