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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Butler County, Pennsylvania

Butler County had 5 maple operations and 232 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Butler, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 23. 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 23
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
50
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
232
#35 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Butler right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Butler, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Butler 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° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    42° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 72°
    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 Butler

Freeze-thaw weather at Butler peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Apr 6, which hold about 59% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 20 – Mar 230246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.8 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: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 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 Butler, 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 3 and Feb 22. Earliest Jan 17 (2023), latest Mar 4 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Mar 20; middle half between Mar 9 and Mar 26. Earliest Feb 17 (1998), latest Apr 7 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan15%Feb20%Mar28%Apr14%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Butler County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Butler was 2020 with 69 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 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 2 – Mar 3, 39 sap days3920252025: Feb 12 – Mar 19, 39 sap days3920242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 46 sap days4620232023: Jan 17 – Feb 19, 61 sap days6120222022: Feb 12 – Mar 16, 53 sap days5320212021: Feb 17 – Mar 23, 48 sap days4820202020: Feb 7 – Mar 10, 69 sap days6920192019: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 53 sap days5320182018: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 59 sap days5920172017: Jan 19 – Feb 21, 37 sap days3720162016: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 55 sap days5520152015: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 41 sap days4120142014: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020132013: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 53 sap days5320122012: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 63 sap days6320112011: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320102010: Feb 15 – Mar 18, 41 sap days4120092009: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 52 sap days5220082008: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 47 sap days4720072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 41 sap days4120062006: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120052005: Feb 19 – Mar 22, 40 sap days4020042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320032003: Feb 21 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620022002: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 65 sap days6520012001: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 54 sap days5420002000: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 50 sap days5019991999: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 63 sap days6319981998: Jan 22 – Feb 17, 51 sap days5119971997: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 61 sap days6119961996: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 15 – Mar 14, 57 sap days5719941994: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 52 sap days5219931993: Feb 24 – Mar 20, 47 sap days4719921992: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 52 sap days5219911991: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 60 sap days60
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Butler. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Butler County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Butler County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (-37% since 2017), with taps -28% and syrup output -52% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.29 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Butler County ranks 340 by taps.

Butler County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225232440.19
20178320920.29

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 Butler (1,083ft), 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

Butler County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Butler County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Butler and the season winds down around March 23. 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 17 and as late as Mar 4.
How much maple syrup does Butler County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Butler County with 232 taps producing 44 gallons of syrup, ranking 35 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Butler County get in a season?
On average 50 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Butler, of which about 13.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (69 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (33).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Butler (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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