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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Blair County, Pennsylvania

Blair County had 11 maple operations and 1,386 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Hollidaysburg, sap usually runs from February 18 to March 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 135 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 18
typical year
Season ends
Mar 18
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
46.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,386
#25 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Hollidaysburg right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Hollidaysburg, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Blair County's season usually opens around February 18, which is 135 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    41° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    54° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 71°
    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 Hollidaysburg

Freeze-thaw weather at Hollidaysburg peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 18 – Mar 180246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Hollidaysburg, 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 13; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 2 and Feb 21. Earliest Jan 12 (2023), latest Mar 3 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 15; middle half between Mar 5 and Mar 25. Earliest Feb 15 (2023), latest Apr 7 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan17%Feb22%Mar28%Apr10%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Blair County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Hollidaysburg was 2012 with 61 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 26. 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 3, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520242024: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 45 sap days4520232023: Jan 12 – Feb 15, 61 sap days6120222022: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 49 sap days4920212021: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 53 sap days5320202020: Jan 22 – Feb 24, 52 sap days5220192019: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 46 sap days4620182018: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 55 sap days5520172017: Jan 18 – Feb 18, 41 sap days4120162016: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 47 sap days4720152015: Mar 3 – Apr 2, 39 sap days3920142014: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 42 sap days4220132013: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220122012: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 61 sap days6120112011: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 39 sap days3920102010: Feb 14 – Mar 10, 30 sap days3020092009: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 50 sap days5020082008: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 52 sap days5220072007: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 46 sap days4620062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120052005: Feb 22 – Mar 22, 42 sap days4220042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 38 sap days3820032003: Feb 22 – Mar 15, 26 sap days2620022002: Jan 21 – Feb 25, 59 sap days5920012001: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4020002000: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 51 sap days5119991999: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 51 sap days5119981998: Jan 26 – Feb 26, 46 sap days4619971997: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 9 – Mar 12, 49 sap days4919941994: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 49 sap days4919931993: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3419921992: Feb 1 – Mar 2, 40 sap days4019911991: Feb 13 – Mar 17, 51 sap days51
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Hollidaysburg. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Blair County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Blair County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (+38% since 2017), with taps -31% and syrup output +9% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.17 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Blair County ranks 266 by taps.

Blair County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022111,3863790.27
201781,9973490.17

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 Hollidaysburg (1,070ft), 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

Blair County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Blair County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 18 near Hollidaysburg and the season winds down around March 18. 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 Blair County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Blair County with 1,386 taps producing 379 gallons of syrup, ranking 25 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Blair County get in a season?
On average 46.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Hollidaysburg, of which about 17.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (61 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Hollidaysburg (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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