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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania

Lackawanna County had 6 maple operations and 6,050 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Scranton, 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
37.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,050
#14 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Scranton right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Scranton, PA

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Lackawanna 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
    41° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    49° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 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 Scranton

Freeze-thaw weather at Scranton peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Mar 23, which hold about 52% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 21 – Mar 230246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.1 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: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.2 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 21
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Scranton, 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 5 and Feb 22. Earliest Jan 20 (2017), latest Mar 7 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 20; middle half between Mar 9 and Mar 27. Earliest Feb 14 (2023), latest Apr 5 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan17%Feb24%Mar30%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Lackawanna County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Scranton was 2012 with 49 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 16. 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 9 – Mar 15, 37 sap days3720252025: Feb 13 – Mar 19, 41 sap days4120242024: Jan 31 – Mar 3, 49 sap days4920232023: Feb 5 – Feb 14, 48 sap days4820222022: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 30 sap days3020212021: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320202020: Jan 22 – Feb 24, 37 sap days3720192019: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3820182018: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 45 sap days4520172017: Jan 20 – Feb 22, 32 sap days3220162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 7 – Apr 2, 26 sap days2620142014: Mar 3 – Apr 1, 33 sap days3320132013: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 49 sap days4920112011: Feb 28 – Mar 30, 29 sap days2920102010: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 30 sap days3020092009: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3320082008: Feb 15 – Mar 22, 46 sap days4620072007: Feb 18 – Mar 22, 32 sap days3220062006: Feb 4 – Mar 9, 36 sap days3620052005: Mar 1 – Mar 30, 39 sap days3920042004: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3620032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 16 sap days1620022002: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 34 sap days3420002000: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4319981998: Jan 25 – Feb 27, 37 sap days3719971997: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 43 sap days4319961996: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719951995: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4519941994: Mar 1 – Mar 31, 35 sap days3519931993: Mar 1 – Mar 26, 35 sap days3519921992: Feb 5 – Mar 5, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 11 – Mar 17, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Scranton. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Lackawanna County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Lackawanna County the 2022 Census found 6 farms making syrup (-40% since 2017), with taps +101% and syrup output +230% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.23 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.14 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Lackawanna County ranks 176 by taps.

Lackawanna County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202266,0501,4080.23
2017103,0154270.14

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 Scranton (751ft), 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

Lackawanna County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 21 near Scranton 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 20 and as late as Mar 7.
How much maple syrup does Lackawanna County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 6 maple operations in Lackawanna County with 6,050 taps producing 1,408 gallons of syrup, ranking 14 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Lackawanna County get in a season?
On average 37.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Scranton, of which about 15.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (49 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (16).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Scranton (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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