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Ohio · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Washington County, Ohio

Washington County had 10 maple operations and 292 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Marietta, sap usually runs from February 2 to March 12. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 119 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 2
typical year
Season ends
Mar 12
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
47.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
292
#51 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Marietta right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Marietta, OH

Updated Oct 6, 9:50 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Washington County's season usually opens around February 2, which is 119 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    44° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    47° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 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 Marietta

Freeze-thaw weather at Marietta peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 2 – Mar 120246Week of Dec 1: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 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: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.8 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: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 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 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Marietta, 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 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 19 and Feb 3. Earliest Jan 2 (2020), latest Feb 20 (2003).
Closing signal
Median Mar 2; middle half between Feb 17 and Mar 8. Earliest Jan 28 (2006), latest Mar 19 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec24%Jan20%Feb24%Mar25%Apr6%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Washington County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Marietta was 2018 with 61 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: Jan 27 – Mar 3, 41 sap days4120252025: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 41 sap days4120242024: Jan 6 – Feb 9, 49 sap days4920232023: Jan 7 – Feb 7, 48 sap days4820222022: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 51 sap days5120212021: Feb 6 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120202020: Jan 2 – Jan 31, 49 sap days4920192019: Jan 22 – Feb 20, 51 sap days5120182018: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 61 sap days6120172017: Jan 28 – Jan 31, 41 sap days4120162016: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 36 sap days3620152015: Feb 9 – Mar 10, 33 sap days3320142014: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 49 sap days4920132013: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 53 sap days5320122012: Jan 18 – Feb 22, 54 sap days5420112011: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 41 sap days4120102010: Feb 10 – Mar 10, 31 sap days3120092009: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 48 sap days4820082008: Jan 28 – Mar 4, 48 sap days4820072007: Feb 19 – Mar 9, 44 sap days4420062006: Jan 7 – Jan 28, 48 sap days4820052005: Jan 25 – Feb 7, 45 sap days4520042004: Jan 30 – Mar 2, 54 sap days5420032003: Feb 20 – Mar 15, 34 sap days3420022002: Jan 9 – Feb 12, 57 sap days5720012001: Jan 27 – Mar 2, 53 sap days5320002000: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 54 sap days5419991999: Jan 8 – Feb 6, 60 sap days6019981998: Jan 11 – Feb 8, 42 sap days4219971997: Jan 17 – Feb 21, 52 sap days5219961996: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 44 sap days4419951995: Jan 30 – Mar 5, 49 sap days4919941994: Feb 8 – Mar 14, 47 sap days4719931993: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 49 sap days4919921992: Jan 20 – Feb 18, 54 sap days5419911991: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 57 sap days57
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Marietta. 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 10 farms making syrup (+400% since 2017). That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Washington County ranks 334 by taps.

Washington County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202210292560.19
20172withheldwithheld—

“Withheld” means USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing data for individual operations; the farm count is still published.

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 Marietta (656ft), 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

Washington County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Washington County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 2 near Marietta and the season winds down around March 12. 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 2 and as late as Feb 20.
How much maple syrup does Washington County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in Washington County with 292 taps producing 56 gallons of syrup, ranking 51 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Washington County get in a season?
On average 47.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Marietta, of which about 13.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (61 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (31).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Marietta (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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