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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Bradford County, Pennsylvania

Bradford County had 53 maple operations and 79,859 taps in the 2022 Census, number 5 in Pennsylvania. Around Towanda, sap usually runs from March 2 to April 1. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 147 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 2
typical year
Season ends
Apr 1
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
50.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
79,859
#5 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Towanda right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Towanda, PA

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Bradford County's season usually opens around March 2, which is 147 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    40° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    47° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 65°
    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 Towanda

Freeze-thaw weather at Towanda peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 2 – Apr 10246Week of Dec 1: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 2
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Towanda, 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 25; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 17 and Mar 6. Earliest Feb 1 (2017), latest Mar 14 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 29; middle half between Mar 21 and Apr 6. Earliest Mar 7 (2017), latest Apr 14 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec20%Jan14%Feb19%Mar29%Apr17%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Bradford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Towanda was 2020 with 71 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 28. 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 18 – Mar 25, 45 sap days4520252025: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4320242024: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 48 sap days4820232023: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 65 sap days6520222022: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 52 sap days5220212021: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 45 sap days4520202020: Feb 12 – Mar 19, 71 sap days7120192019: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 45 sap days4520182018: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 53 sap days5320172017: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 45 sap days4520162016: Feb 11 – Mar 14, 55 sap days5520152015: Mar 14 – Apr 13, 37 sap days3720142014: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 42 sap days4220132013: Mar 7 – Apr 7, 53 sap days5320122012: Feb 10 – Mar 13, 65 sap days6520112011: Mar 7 – Apr 6, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4120092009: Feb 26 – Mar 26, 47 sap days4720082008: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 53 sap days5320072007: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 50 sap days5020062006: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 63 sap days6320052005: Mar 3 – Mar 27, 50 sap days5020042004: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620032003: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820022002: Feb 9 – Mar 13, 70 sap days7020012001: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 47 sap days4720002000: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 49 sap days4919991999: Feb 27 – Mar 31, 59 sap days5919981998: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 47 sap days4719971997: Feb 26 – Apr 2, 53 sap days5319961996: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4719951995: Feb 17 – Mar 14, 55 sap days5519941994: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 48 sap days4819931993: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 45 sap days4519921992: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 48 sap days4819911991: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 56 sap days56
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Towanda. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Bradford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Bradford County the 2022 Census found 53 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps +47% and syrup output +64% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Bradford County ranks 37 by taps.

Bradford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225379,85913,1270.16
20175354,2048,0140.15

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 Towanda (1,033ft), 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

Bradford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Bradford County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 2 near Towanda and the season winds down around April 1. 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 Feb 1 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Bradford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 53 maple operations in Bradford County with 79,859 taps producing 13,127 gallons of syrup, ranking 5 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Bradford County get in a season?
On average 50.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Towanda, of which about 15 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (71 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (28).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Towanda (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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