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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Susquehanna County had 17 maple operations and 10,993 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Montrose, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 10. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 10
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
42.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
10,993
#10 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Montrose right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Montrose, PA

Updated Oct 6, 9:14 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Susquehanna County's season usually opens around March 10, which is 155 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    37° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    40° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    45° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 64°
    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 Montrose

Freeze-thaw weather at Montrose peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 13, which hold about 54% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 100246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Montrose, 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 Mar 5; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 26 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 11 (2024), latest Mar 19 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 7; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 14. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 23 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan11%Feb17%Mar29%Apr22%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Susquehanna County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Montrose was 2002 with 62 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 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 25 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 11 – Mar 13, 37 sap days3720232023: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 56 sap days5620222022: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 51 sap days5120212021: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 33 sap days3320202020: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 58 sap days5820192019: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 45 sap days4520172017: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 33 sap days3320162016: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4120152015: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 50 sap days5020132013: Mar 14 – Apr 7, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 14 – Mar 13, 49 sap days4920112011: Mar 14 – Apr 9, 28 sap days2820102010: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 41 sap days4120082008: Mar 13 – Apr 17, 43 sap days4320072007: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 47 sap days4720062006: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 46 sap days4620052005: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 47 sap days4720042004: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 40 sap days4020032003: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 26 sap days2620022002: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 62 sap days6220012001: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 38 sap days3820002000: Feb 18 – Mar 21, 43 sap days4319991999: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 57 sap days5719981998: Feb 23 – Mar 26, 60 sap days6019971997: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5219961996: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 46 sap days4619951995: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 12 – Apr 9, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 36 sap days3619911991: Feb 22 – Mar 21, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Montrose. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Susquehanna County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Susquehanna County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (-41% since 2017), with taps +15% and syrup output +42% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.27 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.22 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Susquehanna County ranks 129 by taps.

Susquehanna County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20221710,9932,9910.27
2017299,5582,0990.22

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 Montrose (1,631ft), 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

Susquehanna County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near Montrose and the season winds down around April 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 Feb 11 and as late as Mar 19.
How much maple syrup does Susquehanna County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Susquehanna County with 10,993 taps producing 2,991 gallons of syrup, ranking 10 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Susquehanna County get in a season?
On average 42.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Montrose, of which about 12.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (62 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (25).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Montrose (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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