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Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Athens County, Ohio

Athens County had 9 maple operations and 4,745 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Athens, sap usually runs from February 4 to March 14. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 121 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 4
typical year
Season ends
Mar 14
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
52
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,745
#19 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Athens right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Athens, OH

Updated Oct 6, 9:50 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Athens County's season usually opens around February 4, which is 121 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    44° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 75°
    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 Athens

Freeze-thaw weather at Athens peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 30, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 4 – Mar 140246Week of Dec 1: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 4
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Athens, 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 Jan 30; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 19 and Feb 7. Earliest Jan 7 (2006), latest Feb 20 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Mar 4; middle half between Feb 18 and Mar 11. Earliest Jan 28 (2006), latest Mar 22 (1994).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan18%Feb23%Mar26%Apr9%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Athens County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Athens was 1999 with 77 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 32. 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: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 49 sap days4920252025: Feb 6 – Mar 11, 60 sap days6020242024: Jan 8 – Feb 9, 51 sap days5120232023: Jan 7 – Feb 7, 57 sap days5720222022: Feb 4 – Mar 11, 55 sap days5520212021: Feb 9 – Mar 16, 54 sap days5420202020: Jan 20 – Feb 24, 56 sap days5620192019: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 56 sap days5620182018: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 64 sap days6420172017: Jan 10 – Feb 7, 46 sap days4620162016: Jan 30 – Mar 5, 46 sap days4620152015: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 50 sap days5020142014: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 49 sap days4920132013: Feb 5 – Mar 10, 56 sap days5620122012: Jan 18 – Feb 21, 50 sap days5020112011: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 41 sap days4120102010: Feb 19 – Mar 10, 32 sap days3220092009: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 42 sap days4220082008: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 46 sap days4620072007: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 43 sap days4320062006: Jan 7 – Jan 28, 50 sap days5020052005: Jan 25 – Feb 7, 45 sap days4520042004: Jan 31 – Mar 2, 54 sap days5420032003: Feb 20 – Mar 15, 34 sap days3420022002: Jan 12 – Feb 15, 55 sap days5520012001: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 54 sap days5420002000: Jan 22 – Feb 22, 59 sap days5919991999: Jan 11 – Feb 15, 77 sap days7719981998: Jan 11 – Feb 11, 54 sap days5419971997: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 61 sap days6119961996: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 60 sap days6019951995: Feb 15 – Mar 4, 60 sap days6019941994: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 48 sap days4819931993: Feb 16 – Mar 20, 53 sap days5319921992: Jan 23 – Feb 17, 52 sap days5219911991: Jan 18 – Feb 21, 53 sap days53
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Athens. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Athens County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Athens County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (-18% since 2017), with taps -23% and syrup output +115% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.24 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.09 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Athens County ranks 195 by taps.

Athens County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202294,7451,1310.24
2017116,1305250.09

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 Athens (748ft), 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 Ohio's USDA record (8 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 — Ohio, 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

Athens County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Athens County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 4 near Athens and the season winds down around March 14. 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 7 and as late as Feb 20.
How much maple syrup does Athens County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Athens County with 4,745 taps producing 1,131 gallons of syrup, ranking 19 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Athens County get in a season?
On average 52 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Athens, 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 1999 (77 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (32).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Athens (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Ohio. 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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