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Pennsylvania · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Tioga County, Pennsylvania

Tioga County had 56 maple operations and 115,340 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Pennsylvania. Around Wellsboro, sap usually runs from March 6 to April 7. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 151 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 6
typical year
Season ends
Apr 7
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
51
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
115,340
#3 of 45 in PA

Sap-flow outlook at Wellsboro right now

Full Pennsylvania forecast →

Forecast for Wellsboro, PA

Updated Oct 6, 8:31 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Tioga County's season usually opens around March 6, which is 151 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    40° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    41° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 65°
    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 Wellsboro

Freeze-thaw weather at Wellsboro 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 6 – Apr 70246Week of Dec 1: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Wellsboro, 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 1; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 21 and Mar 9. Earliest Feb 7 (2024), latest Mar 15 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 4; middle half between Mar 26 and Apr 10. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 19 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan12%Feb18%Mar29%Apr22%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Tioga County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Wellsboro was 1997 with 74 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 36. 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 18 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4120252025: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 7 – Mar 13, 45 sap days4520232023: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 63 sap days6320222022: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5220212021: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 43 sap days4320202020: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 67 sap days6720192019: Mar 8 – Apr 6, 45 sap days4520182018: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 50 sap days5020172017: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 44 sap days4420162016: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 54 sap days5420152015: Mar 14 – Apr 13, 36 sap days3620142014: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 50 sap days5020132013: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920122012: Feb 12 – Mar 13, 74 sap days7420112011: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4020102010: Feb 25 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220092009: Mar 1 – Apr 1, 47 sap days4720082008: Mar 9 – Apr 5, 50 sap days5020072007: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 42 sap days4220062006: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4920052005: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 56 sap days5620042004: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 45 sap days4520032003: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 38 sap days3820022002: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 70 sap days7020012001: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 48 sap days4820002000: Feb 10 – Mar 16, 57 sap days5719991999: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 64 sap days6419981998: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 60 sap days6019971997: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 74 sap days7419961996: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 52 sap days5219951995: Feb 19 – Mar 26, 59 sap days5919941994: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 53 sap days5319931993: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 47 sap days4719921992: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 46 sap days4619911991: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 48 sap days48
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Wellsboro. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Tioga County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Tioga County the 2022 Census found 56 farms making syrup (+17% since 2017), with taps -34% and syrup output -37% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.17 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Tioga County ranks 25 by taps.

Tioga County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202256115,34019,8800.17
201748175,90731,6360.18

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 Wellsboro (1,417ft), 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

Tioga County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Tioga County, Pennsylvania?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 6 near Wellsboro and the season winds down around April 7. 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 7 and as late as Mar 15.
How much maple syrup does Tioga County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 56 maple operations in Tioga County with 115,340 taps producing 19,880 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 45 Pennsylvania's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Tioga County get in a season?
On average 51 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Wellsboro, of which about 14.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1997 (74 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (36).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Wellsboro (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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