Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania

Armstrong County had 6 maple operations and 1,404 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Kittanning, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 22. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 137 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 20
typical year
Season ends
Mar 22
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
49.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,404
#24 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Kittanning right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Kittanning, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Armstrong County's season usually opens around February 20, which is 137 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    40° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 74°
    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 Kittanning

Freeze-thaw weather at Kittanning 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 20 – Mar 220246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 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 ~Feb 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Kittanning, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 1 and Feb 21. Earliest Jan 18 (1998), latest Mar 5 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 19; middle half between Mar 7 and Mar 25. Earliest Feb 17 (1998), latest Apr 7 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan16%Feb21%Mar29%Apr12%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Armstrong County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Kittanning was 2023 with 67 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 33. 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 1 – Mar 3, 40 sap days4020252025: Feb 12 – Mar 19, 40 sap days4020242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 48 sap days4820232023: Jan 18 – Feb 22, 67 sap days6720222022: Feb 12 – Mar 16, 59 sap days5920212021: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 50 sap days5020202020: Feb 5 – Mar 10, 61 sap days6120192019: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 51 sap days5120182018: Jan 26 – Feb 27, 56 sap days5620172017: Jan 18 – Feb 21, 41 sap days4120162016: Feb 6 – Mar 8, 57 sap days5720152015: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 41 sap days4120132013: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220122012: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 66 sap days6620112011: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 41 sap days4120102010: Feb 17 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4220092009: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 50 sap days5020082008: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 51 sap days5120072007: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 42 sap days4220062006: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 46 sap days4620052005: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 44 sap days4420042004: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4220032003: Feb 21 – Mar 24, 33 sap days3320022002: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 62 sap days6220012001: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 46 sap days4620002000: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 52 sap days5219991999: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 65 sap days6519981998: Jan 18 – Feb 17, 55 sap days5519971997: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 63 sap days6319961996: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 57 sap days5719941994: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 45 sap days4519931993: Feb 23 – Mar 20, 37 sap days3719921992: Jan 30 – Mar 3, 49 sap days4919911991: Feb 14 – Mar 17, 56 sap days56
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Kittanning. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Armstrong County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Armstrong County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (+20% since 2017), with taps +14% and syrup output +102% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.14 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.08 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Armstrong County ranks 265 by taps.

Armstrong County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202261,4042000.14
201751,230990.08

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 Kittanning (1,089ft), 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 Pennsylvania'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 — Pennsylvania, 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

Armstrong County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Kittanning and the season winds down around March 22. 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 18 and as late as Mar 5.
How much maple syrup does Armstrong County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Armstrong County with 1,404 taps producing 200 gallons of syrup, ranking 24 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Armstrong County get in a season?
On average 49.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Kittanning, of which about 15.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (67 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (33).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Kittanning (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Pennsylvania. 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 Armstrong 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