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New York · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Yates County, New York

Yates County had 32 maple operations and 9,686 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Penn Yan, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 27. 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 27
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
35.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
9,686
#37 of 50 in NY

Sap-flow outlook at Penn Yan right now

Full New York forecast →

Forecast for Penn Yan, NY

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Yates 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
    38° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 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 Penn Yan

Freeze-thaw weather at Penn Yan peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 270246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 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: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.3 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: 1.5 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: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 Penn Yan, 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 15 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 24 (2017), latest Mar 11 (1996).
Closing signal
Median Mar 27; middle half between Mar 17 and Apr 5. Earliest Feb 27 (2017), latest Apr 14 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan16%Feb20%Mar29%Apr14%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Yates County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Penn Yan was 1995 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 19. 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 15 – Mar 20, 30 sap days3020252025: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 33 sap days3320242024: Feb 1 – Mar 3, 25 sap days2520232023: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 45 sap days4520222022: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 35 sap days3520212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 29 sap days2920202020: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 40 sap days4020192019: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4220182018: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 36 sap days3620172017: Jan 24 – Feb 27, 29 sap days2920162016: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 46 sap days4620152015: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 34 sap days3420132013: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 6 – Mar 30, 23 sap days2320102010: Feb 18 – Mar 16, 19 sap days1920092009: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220072007: Feb 28 – Mar 22, 29 sap days2920062006: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 34 sap days3420042004: Mar 11 – Mar 26, 32 sap days3220032003: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920022002: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 41 sap days4120012001: Mar 11 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220002000: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 27 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 33 sap days3319971997: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 38 sap days3819961996: Mar 11 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4719951995: Feb 15 – Mar 12, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 38 sap days3819921992: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4319911991: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Penn Yan. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Yates County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Yates County the 2022 Census found 32 farms making syrup (+19% since 2017), with taps +60% and syrup output +72% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.28 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Yates County ranks 140 by taps.

Yates County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022329,6862,6770.28
2017276,0721,5600.26

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 Penn Yan (810ft), 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

Yates County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Yates County, New York?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Penn Yan and the season winds down around March 27. 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 11.
How much maple syrup does Yates County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 32 maple operations in Yates County with 9,686 taps producing 2,677 gallons of syrup, ranking 37 of 50 New York's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Yates County get in a season?
On average 35.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Penn Yan, of which about 12.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1995 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Penn Yan (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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