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Vermont · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Orleans County, Vermont

Orleans County had 148 maple operations and 911,598 taps in the 2022 Census, number 3 in Vermont. Around Newport, sap usually runs from March 7 to April 15. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 152 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 7
typical year
Season ends
Apr 15
about 6 weeks
Sap days / season
36.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
911,598
#3 of 12 in VT

Sap-flow outlook at Newport right now

Full Vermont forecast →

Forecast for Newport, VT

Updated Oct 6, 2:25 AM EDT

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    32° / 62°

    0h below · 22h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 54°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    40° / 54°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    42° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    49° / 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 Newport

Freeze-thaw weather at Newport peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 48% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 7 – Apr 150246Week of Dec 1: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 7
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Newport, 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 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 12 and Mar 22. Earliest Feb 18 (2012), latest Mar 27 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Apr 18; middle half between Apr 11 and Apr 22. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 30 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec14%Jan7%Feb14%Mar31%Apr31%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Orleans County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Newport was 2016 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 19. 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: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 22 sap days2220252025: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 25 sap days2520242024: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 35 sap days3520232023: Mar 12 – Apr 10, 43 sap days4320222022: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 41 sap days4120212021: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920202020: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 21 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 27 – Apr 23, 38 sap days3820172017: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 29 sap days2920162016: Mar 17 – Apr 21, 51 sap days5120152015: Mar 27 – Apr 25, 19 sap days1920142014: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 32 sap days3220132013: Mar 21 – Apr 24, 44 sap days4420122012: Feb 18 – Mar 13, 34 sap days3420112011: Mar 22 – Apr 22, 25 sap days2520102010: Mar 1 – Mar 29, 33 sap days3320092009: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4020082008: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 37 sap days3720072007: Mar 23 – Apr 26, 38 sap days3820062006: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 36 sap days3620052005: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 37 sap days3720042004: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 37 sap days3720032003: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 31 sap days3120022002: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 37 sap days3720012001: Mar 26 – Apr 30, 32 sap days3220002000: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 44 sap days4419991999: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 49 sap days4919981998: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 42 sap days4219971997: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 40 sap days4019961996: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 35 sap days3519951995: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4519941994: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 38 sap days3819931993: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 32 sap days3219921992: Mar 23 – Apr 17, 34 sap days3419911991: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 43 sap days43
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Newport. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Orleans County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Orleans County the 2022 Census found 148 farms making syrup (+20% since 2017), with taps +111% and syrup output +137% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.36 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.32 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Orleans County ranks 4 by taps.

Orleans County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022148911,598330,3500.36
2017123431,239139,4510.32

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 Newport (735ft), 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 Vermont'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 — Vermont, 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

Orleans County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Orleans County, Vermont?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 7 near Newport and the season winds down around April 15. 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 18 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Orleans County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 148 maple operations in Orleans County with 911,598 taps producing 330,350 gallons of syrup, ranking 3 of 12 Vermont's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Orleans County get in a season?
On average 36.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Newport, of which about 9.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2016 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (19).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Newport (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Vermont. 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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