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West Virginia · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Doddridge County, West Virginia

Doddridge County had 5 maple operations and 169 taps in the 2022 Census. Around West Union, sap usually runs from February 6 to March 15. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 123 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 6
typical year
Season ends
Mar 15
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
59.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
169
#15 of 29 in WV

Sap-flow outlook at West Union right now

Full West Virginia forecast →

Forecast for West Union, WV

Updated Oct 6, 9:50 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Doddridge County's season usually opens around February 6, which is 123 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    40° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    55° / 74°
    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 West Union

Freeze-thaw weather at West Union peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Mar 30, which hold about 55% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 6 – Mar 150246Week of Dec 1: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 4.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 6
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at West Union, 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 Jan 30; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 19 and Feb 4. Earliest Jan 5 (2020), latest Feb 15 (2015).
Closing signal
Median Mar 4; middle half between Feb 20 and Mar 10. Earliest Jan 29 (2006), latest Mar 20 (1994).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan18%Feb23%Mar25%Apr10%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Doddridge County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at West Union was 1999 with 74 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2024 with 43. 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: Jan 28 – Mar 3, 46 sap days4620252025: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 46 sap days4620242024: Jan 7 – Feb 9, 43 sap days4320232023: Jan 8 – Feb 8, 59 sap days5920222022: Jan 31 – Mar 5, 63 sap days6320212021: Feb 6 – Mar 10, 58 sap days5820202020: Jan 5 – Feb 9, 62 sap days6220192019: Jan 19 – Feb 20, 60 sap days6020182018: Jan 16 – Feb 18, 72 sap days7220172017: Jan 28 – Jan 31, 46 sap days4620162016: Jan 31 – Mar 4, 52 sap days5220152015: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 61 sap days6120142014: Feb 14 – Mar 18, 61 sap days6120132013: Feb 4 – Mar 10, 63 sap days6320122012: Jan 18 – Feb 22, 69 sap days6920112011: Feb 1 – Mar 8, 52 sap days5220102010: Feb 11 – Mar 18, 48 sap days4820092009: Feb 3 – Mar 6, 55 sap days5520082008: Jan 31 – Mar 7, 65 sap days6520072007: Feb 4 – Mar 11, 57 sap days5720062006: Jan 7 – Jan 29, 63 sap days6320052005: Jan 25 – Feb 6, 53 sap days5320042004: Feb 2 – Mar 5, 72 sap days7220032003: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 46 sap days4620022002: Jan 17 – Feb 20, 69 sap days6920012001: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 67 sap days6720002000: Jan 22 – Feb 23, 66 sap days6619991999: Jan 8 – Feb 11, 74 sap days7419981998: Jan 14 – Feb 17, 60 sap days6019971997: Jan 23 – Feb 27, 68 sap days6819961996: Feb 9 – Mar 15, 65 sap days6519951995: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 68 sap days6819941994: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 59 sap days5919931993: Jan 29 – Mar 2, 54 sap days5419921992: Jan 24 – Feb 28, 68 sap days6819911991: Jan 26 – Mar 1, 65 sap days65
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at West Union. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Doddridge County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Doddridge County the 2022 Census found 5 farms making syrup (+25% since 2017), with taps +59% and syrup output +183% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.10 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.06 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Doddridge County ranks 348 by taps.

Doddridge County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20225169170.10
2017410660.06

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 West Union (1,007ft), 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 West Virginia's USDA record (3 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 — West Virginia, 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

Doddridge County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Doddridge County, West Virginia?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 6 near West Union and the season winds down around March 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 Jan 5 and as late as Feb 15.
How much maple syrup does Doddridge County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 5 maple operations in Doddridge County with 169 taps producing 17 gallons of syrup, ranking 15 of 29 West Virginia's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Doddridge County get in a season?
On average 59.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at West Union, of which about 13.3 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (74 sap days); the leanest was 2024 (43).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at West Union (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for West Virginia. 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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