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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Luzerne County had 9 maple operations and 1,887 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Wilkes-Barre, sap usually runs from February 17 to March 18. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 134 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 17
typical year
Season ends
Mar 18
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
39.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,887
#22 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Wilkes-Barre right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Wilkes-Barre, PA

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Luzerne County's season usually opens around February 17, which is 134 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
    50° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    48° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 68°
    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 Wilkes-Barre

Freeze-thaw weather at Wilkes-Barre peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 23, which hold about 56% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 17 – Mar 180246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.2 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 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Wilkes-Barre, 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 12; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 3 and Feb 19. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 4 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 15; middle half between Mar 5 and Mar 24. Earliest Feb 14 (2023), latest Apr 5 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan17%Feb25%Mar29%Apr6%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Luzerne County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Wilkes-Barre was 2002 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 21. 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 4, 44 sap days4420252025: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 41 sap days4120242024: Feb 4 – Feb 26, 41 sap days4120232023: Jan 25 – Feb 14, 50 sap days5020222022: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 35 sap days3520212021: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3720202020: Jan 20 – Feb 24, 37 sap days3720192019: Feb 18 – Mar 24, 39 sap days3920182018: Jan 27 – Mar 3, 48 sap days4820172017: Jan 19 – Feb 21, 32 sap days3220162016: Feb 3 – Mar 7, 39 sap days3920152015: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 33 sap days3320132013: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 46 sap days4620122012: Feb 1 – Mar 8, 50 sap days5020112011: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 37 sap days3720102010: Feb 12 – Mar 10, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3520082008: Feb 10 – Mar 15, 51 sap days5120072007: Feb 17 – Mar 22, 37 sap days3720062006: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 43 sap days4320052005: Feb 25 – Mar 26, 41 sap days4120042004: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 21 sap days2120022002: Jan 22 – Feb 25, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 39 sap days3920002000: Feb 2 – Mar 8, 40 sap days4019991999: Feb 17 – Mar 17, 44 sap days4419981998: Jan 21 – Feb 17, 41 sap days4119971997: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4219961996: Feb 15 – Mar 19, 35 sap days3519951995: Feb 6 – Mar 12, 42 sap days4219941994: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 35 sap days3519931993: Feb 26 – Mar 26, 40 sap days4019921992: Feb 3 – Mar 5, 46 sap days4619911991: Jan 30 – Mar 1, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Wilkes-Barre. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Luzerne County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Luzerne County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (+200% since 2017), with taps -10% and syrup output -36% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.09 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.13 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Luzerne County ranks 254 by taps.

Luzerne County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202291,8871680.09
201732,1002640.13

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 Wilkes-Barre (604ft), 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

Luzerne County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 17 near Wilkes-Barre and the season winds down around March 18. 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 4.
How much maple syrup does Luzerne County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Luzerne County with 1,887 taps producing 168 gallons of syrup, ranking 22 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Luzerne County get in a season?
On average 39.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Wilkes-Barre, of which about 16.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Wilkes-Barre (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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