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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Chester County, Pennsylvania

Chester County had 5 maple operations and 10 taps in the 2022 Census. Around West Chester, sap usually runs from February 7 to March 10. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 124 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 7
typical year
Season ends
Mar 10
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
54.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
10
#41 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at West Chester right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for West Chester, PA

Updated Oct 6, 7:41 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Chester County's season usually opens around February 7, which is 124 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    41° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    53° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    58° / 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 West Chester

Freeze-thaw weather at West Chester peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 94% of a season's sap days. December is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 7 – Mar 100246Week of Dec 1: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at West Chester, 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 2; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 24 and Feb 8. Earliest Jan 5 (2020), latest Mar 1 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 7; middle half between Feb 26 and Mar 14. Earliest Feb 9 (1998), latest Apr 2 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec26%Jan22%Feb25%Mar23%Apr5%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Chester County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at West Chester was 2006 with 79 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 1996 with 35. 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 4 – Mar 3, 48 sap days4820252025: Feb 6 – Mar 10, 40 sap days4020242024: Jan 22 – Feb 26, 51 sap days5120232023: Jan 8 – Feb 9, 66 sap days6620222022: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 58 sap days5820212021: Feb 7 – Mar 9, 54 sap days5420202020: Jan 5 – Feb 9, 44 sap days4420192019: Feb 8 – Mar 14, 49 sap days4920182018: Jan 18 – Feb 19, 50 sap days5020172017: Jan 15 – Feb 18, 52 sap days5220162016: Feb 2 – Mar 9, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 50 sap days5020142014: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 50 sap days5020132013: Feb 4 – Mar 11, 60 sap days6020122012: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 70 sap days7020112011: Feb 8 – Mar 15, 51 sap days5120102010: Feb 9 – Mar 10, 47 sap days4720092009: Feb 10 – Mar 15, 54 sap days5420082008: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 68 sap days6820072007: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 60 sap days6020062006: Jan 12 – Feb 16, 79 sap days7920052005: Feb 1 – Mar 7, 45 sap days4520042004: Feb 2 – Mar 1, 59 sap days5920032003: Feb 18 – Mar 16, 41 sap days4120022002: Jan 17 – Feb 20, 77 sap days7720012001: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 65 sap days6520002000: Jan 28 – Mar 3, 57 sap days5719991999: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 56 sap days5619981998: Jan 11 – Feb 9, 55 sap days5519971997: Jan 24 – Feb 26, 50 sap days5019961996: Feb 9 – Mar 14, 35 sap days3519951995: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 55 sap days5519941994: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 42 sap days4219931993: Feb 21 – Mar 23, 52 sap days5219921992: Jan 27 – Mar 3, 55 sap days5519911991: Jan 25 – Mar 1, 59 sap days59
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at West Chester. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Chester County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Chester County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup, with taps null and syrup output null over the same five years. That works out to about 0.50 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022. Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Chester County ranks 371 by taps.

Chester County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202251050.50
2017000—

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 West Chester (364ft), 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

Chester County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Chester County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 7 near West Chester and the season winds down around March 10. 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 5 and as late as Mar 1.
How much maple syrup does Chester County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Chester County with 10 taps producing 5 gallons of syrup, ranking 41 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Chester County get in a season?
On average 54.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at West Chester, of which about 20.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2006 (79 sap days); the leanest was 1996 (35).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at West Chester (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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