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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Centre County, Pennsylvania

Centre County had 9 maple operations and 4,800 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bellefonte, sap usually runs from February 21 to March 23. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 138 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 21
typical year
Season ends
Mar 23
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
45.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,800
#19 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Bellefonte right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Bellefonte, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Centre County's season usually opens around February 21, which is 138 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
    51° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    46° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    52° / 70°
    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 Bellefonte

Freeze-thaw weather at Bellefonte peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 59% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 230246Week of Dec 1: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 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 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bellefonte, 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 16; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 7 and Feb 24. Earliest Jan 19 (2023), latest Mar 7 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 20; middle half between Mar 9 and Mar 29. Earliest Feb 18 (2017), latest Apr 9 (1994).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan15%Feb22%Mar30%Apr10%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Centre County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bellefonte was 2023 with 65 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 25. 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 7 – Mar 14, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 47 sap days4720242024: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 47 sap days4720232023: Jan 19 – Feb 23, 65 sap days6520222022: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 44 sap days4420212021: Feb 19 – Mar 23, 52 sap days5220202020: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 53 sap days5320192019: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 44 sap days4420182018: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 50 sap days5020172017: Jan 21 – Feb 18, 40 sap days4020162016: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 50 sap days5020152015: Mar 7 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 40 sap days4020132013: Mar 5 – Apr 7, 47 sap days4720122012: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 61 sap days6120112011: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 34 sap days3420102010: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 31 sap days3120092009: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 45 sap days4520082008: Feb 26 – Apr 1, 49 sap days4920072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 45 sap days4520062006: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 46 sap days4620052005: Feb 23 – Mar 20, 35 sap days3520042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920032003: Feb 22 – Mar 16, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 55 sap days5520012001: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4220002000: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 50 sap days5019991999: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 54 sap days5419981998: Jan 26 – Feb 27, 46 sap days4619971997: Feb 15 – Mar 21, 56 sap days5619961996: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 38 sap days3819951995: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 49 sap days4919931993: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 37 sap days3719921992: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 43 sap days4319911991: Feb 14 – Mar 17, 51 sap days51
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bellefonte. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Centre County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Centre County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (-55% since 2017), with taps -37% and syrup output -60% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.26 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Centre County ranks 194 by taps.

Centre County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202294,8007780.16
2017207,6111,9560.26

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 Bellefonte (981ft), 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

Centre County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Centre County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Bellefonte 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 19 and as late as Mar 7.
How much maple syrup does Centre County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Centre County with 4,800 taps producing 778 gallons of syrup, ranking 19 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Centre County get in a season?
On average 45.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bellefonte, of which about 16.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (65 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bellefonte (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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