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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Bedford County had 8 maple operations and 10,658 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bedford, sap usually runs from February 19 to March 21. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 136 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 19
typical year
Season ends
Mar 21
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
51.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
10,658
#11 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Bedford right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Bedford, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Bedford County's season usually opens around February 19, which is 136 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    42° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    54° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 69°
    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 Bedford

Freeze-thaw weather at Bedford peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 19 – Mar 210246Week of Dec 1: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 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 19
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bedford, 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 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 31 and Feb 20. Earliest Jan 12 (2023), latest Mar 3 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 18; middle half between Mar 4 and Mar 26. Earliest Feb 15 (2023), latest Apr 7 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan17%Feb22%Mar28%Apr10%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Bedford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bedford was 2012 with 65 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 30. 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 2 – Mar 4, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 46 sap days4620242024: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 51 sap days5120232023: Jan 12 – Feb 15, 65 sap days6520222022: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 53 sap days5320212021: Feb 18 – Mar 23, 62 sap days6220202020: Jan 22 – Feb 25, 50 sap days5020192019: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 51 sap days5120182018: Jan 25 – Feb 28, 60 sap days6020172017: Jan 18 – Feb 18, 49 sap days4920162016: Feb 8 – Mar 9, 56 sap days5620152015: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 50 sap days5020142014: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 52 sap days5220132013: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 58 sap days5820122012: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 65 sap days6520112011: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 47 sap days4720102010: Feb 15 – Mar 18, 32 sap days3220092009: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 55 sap days5520082008: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 58 sap days5820072007: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 52 sap days5220062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 60 sap days6020052005: Feb 19 – Mar 23, 47 sap days4720042004: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 42 sap days4220032003: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 30 sap days3020022002: Jan 22 – Feb 26, 62 sap days6220012001: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 48 sap days4820002000: Jan 29 – Mar 5, 54 sap days5419991999: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 55 sap days5519981998: Jan 26 – Feb 27, 44 sap days4419971997: Jan 29 – Feb 27, 59 sap days5919961996: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 44 sap days4419951995: Feb 10 – Mar 15, 58 sap days5819941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 53 sap days5319931993: Feb 27 – Mar 23, 43 sap days4319921992: Jan 31 – Mar 2, 46 sap days4619911991: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 57 sap days57
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bedford. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Bedford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Bedford County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (-38% since 2017), with taps -51% and syrup output -55% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.18 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Bedford County ranks 133 by taps.

Bedford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022810,6581,9480.18
20171321,8984,3300.20

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 Bedford (1,332ft), 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

Bedford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Bedford County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 19 near Bedford and the season winds down around March 21. 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 12 and as late as Mar 3.
How much maple syrup does Bedford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Bedford County with 10,658 taps producing 1,948 gallons of syrup, ranking 11 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Bedford County get in a season?
On average 51.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bedford, of which about 17 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (65 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (30).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bedford (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.

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