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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Erie County had 26 maple operations and 18,090 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Erie, sap usually runs from February 26 to March 26. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 143 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 26
typical year
Season ends
Mar 26
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
26.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
18,090
#6 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Erie right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Erie, PA

Updated Oct 6, 3:46 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Erie County's season usually opens around February 26, which is 143 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    53° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    58° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    53° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    50° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    58° / 69°
    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 Erie

Freeze-thaw weather at Erie peaks in the weeks of Jan 5 to Mar 30, which hold about 70% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 26 – Mar 260246Week of Dec 1: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.1 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 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Erie, 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 21; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 6 and Mar 5. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 27 (2010).
Closing signal
Median Mar 23; middle half between Mar 11 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 16 (1998), latest Apr 11 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan19%Feb22%Mar29%Apr9%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Erie County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Erie was 2023 with 45 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2006 with 17. 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 10 – Mar 3, 27 sap days2720252025: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 28 sap days2820242024: Feb 4 – Mar 2, 20 sap days2020232023: Feb 9 – Mar 16, 45 sap days4520222022: Feb 15 – Mar 17, 33 sap days3320212021: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 24 sap days2420202020: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 31 sap days3120192019: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 28 sap days2820182018: Jan 24 – Feb 18, 27 sap days2720172017: Jan 19 – Feb 21, 24 sap days2420162016: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 36 sap days3620152015: Mar 19 – Apr 5, 21 sap days2120142014: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 26 sap days2620122012: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 31 sap days3120112011: Mar 6 – Mar 30, 17 sap days1720102010: Mar 27 – Mar 31, 17 sap days1720092009: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 3 – Apr 4, 24 sap days2420072007: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 21 sap days2120062006: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 17 sap days1720052005: Mar 1 – Mar 27, 19 sap days1920042004: Feb 27 – Mar 24, 24 sap days2420032003: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 25 sap days2520022002: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 33 sap days3320012001: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920002000: Feb 1 – Mar 8, 29 sap days2919991999: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 32 sap days3219981998: Jan 29 – Feb 16, 27 sap days2719971997: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3619961996: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 28 sap days2819951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 27 sap days2719941994: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 26 sap days2619931993: Mar 6 – Mar 28, 24 sap days2419921992: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 33 sap days3319911991: Feb 18 – Mar 20, 23 sap days23
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Erie. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Erie County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Erie County the 2022 Census found 26 farms making syrup (-26% since 2017), with taps -40% and syrup output -48% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.20 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.23 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Erie County ranks 99 by taps.

Erie County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20222618,0903,5890.20
20173530,0506,8460.23

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 Erie (663ft), 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

Erie County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Erie County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 26 near Erie and the season winds down around March 26. 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 27.
How much maple syrup does Erie County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 26 maple operations in Erie County with 18,090 taps producing 3,589 gallons of syrup, ranking 6 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Erie County get in a season?
On average 26.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Erie, of which about 11.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (45 sap days); the leanest was 2006 (17).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Erie (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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