Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Washington County, New York

Washington County had 59 maple operations and 98,989 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Fort Edward, 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
41
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
98,989
#7 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Fort Edward right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Fort Edward, NY

Updated Oct 6, 8:37 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    32° / 64°

    0h below · 22h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 68°
    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 Fort Edward

Freeze-thaw weather at Fort Edward peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 43% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 1 – Apr 80246Week of Dec 1: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.3 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: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 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 Fort Edward, 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 25 and Mar 11. Earliest Feb 15 (2012), latest Mar 17 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 8; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 11. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 20 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan12%Feb18%Mar33%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Washington County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Fort Edward was 2012 with 59 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 26. 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: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 33 sap days3320252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 36 sap days3620242024: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 42 sap days4220232023: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 51 sap days5120222022: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 43 sap days4320212021: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 38 sap days3820202020: Feb 25 – Mar 29, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 44 sap days4420182018: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 51 sap days5120172017: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 42 sap days4220162016: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 42 sap days4220152015: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 38 sap days3820132013: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 47 sap days4720122012: Feb 15 – Mar 13, 59 sap days5920112011: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 28 sap days2820102010: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4020072007: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4020062006: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 50 sap days5020052005: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 47 sap days4720042004: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 33 sap days3320032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 32 sap days3220022002: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 58 sap days5820012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 36 sap days3620002000: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 42 sap days4219991999: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 48 sap days4819981998: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719971997: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 38 sap days3819951995: Feb 16 – Mar 19, 43 sap days4319941994: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 33 sap days3319931993: Mar 11 – Apr 8, 33 sap days3319921992: Mar 17 – Apr 17, 44 sap days4419911991: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Fort Edward. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Washington County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Washington County the 2022 Census found 59 farms making syrup (+31% since 2017), with taps +4% and syrup output -9% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.31 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Washington County ranks 30 by taps.

Washington County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225998,98927,0310.27
20174595,02929,8440.31

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 Fort Edward (190ft), 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

Washington County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Washington County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 1 near Fort Edward 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 15 and as late as Mar 17.
How much maple syrup does Washington County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 59 maple operations in Washington County with 98,989 taps producing 27,031 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Washington County get in a season?
On average 41 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Fort Edward, 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 2012 (59 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Fort Edward (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.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Washington County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play