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West Virginia · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Upshur County, West Virginia

Upshur County had 12 maple operations and 1,289 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Buckhannon, sap usually runs from February 5 to March 13. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 122 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 5
typical year
Season ends
Mar 13
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
51.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,289
#7 of 29 in WV

Sap-flow outlook at Buckhannon right now

Full West Virginia forecast →

Forecast for Buckhannon, WV

Updated Oct 6, 9:50 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Upshur County's season usually opens around February 5, which is 122 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    38° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    53° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 71°
    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 Buckhannon

Freeze-thaw weather at Buckhannon peaks in the weeks of Dec 1 to Mar 23, which hold about 90% of a season's sap days. February is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 5 – Mar 130246Week of Dec 1: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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 5
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Buckhannon, 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 29; the middle half of seasons fell between Jan 18 and Feb 3. Earliest Jan 5 (1999), latest Feb 20 (2010).
Closing signal
Median Mar 2; middle half between Feb 19 and Mar 9. Earliest Jan 28 (2006), latest Mar 19 (2015).
Sap days by month
Dec23%Jan19%Feb24%Mar24%Apr8%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Upshur County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Buckhannon was 1991 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 26. 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 29 – Mar 3, 50 sap days5020252025: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 49 sap days4920242024: Jan 8 – Feb 9, 48 sap days4820232023: Jan 8 – Feb 7, 55 sap days5520222022: Jan 30 – Mar 5, 60 sap days6020212021: Feb 5 – Mar 9, 55 sap days5520202020: Jan 6 – Jan 31, 44 sap days4420192019: Jan 16 – Feb 20, 50 sap days5020182018: Jan 15 – Feb 18, 57 sap days5720172017: Jan 30 – Jan 31, 36 sap days3620162016: Jan 30 – Mar 4, 42 sap days4220152015: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 42 sap days4220142014: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 52 sap days5220132013: Feb 3 – Mar 10, 47 sap days4720122012: Jan 19 – Feb 22, 56 sap days5620112011: Jan 29 – Mar 4, 40 sap days4020102010: Feb 20 – Mar 10, 26 sap days2620092009: Feb 2 – Mar 6, 46 sap days4620082008: Jan 27 – Mar 3, 54 sap days5420072007: Jan 27 – Mar 1, 47 sap days4720062006: Jan 16 – Jan 28, 42 sap days4220052005: Jan 25 – Feb 2, 39 sap days3920042004: Jan 30 – Mar 2, 59 sap days5920032003: Feb 11 – Mar 15, 41 sap days4120022002: Jan 16 – Feb 20, 64 sap days6420012001: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 54 sap days5420002000: Jan 21 – Feb 23, 62 sap days6219991999: Jan 5 – Feb 9, 63 sap days6319981998: Jan 14 – Feb 16, 55 sap days5519971997: Jan 18 – Feb 19, 63 sap days6319961996: Feb 8 – Mar 15, 56 sap days5619951995: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 64 sap days6419941994: Feb 7 – Mar 14, 49 sap days4919931993: Jan 28 – Mar 2, 50 sap days5019921992: Jan 24 – Feb 21, 59 sap days5919911991: Jan 26 – Mar 2, 64 sap days64
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Buckhannon. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Upshur County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Upshur County the 2022 Census found 12 farms making syrup (+140% since 2017), with taps -44% and syrup output -12% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.12 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Upshur County ranks 270 by taps.

Upshur County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022121,2892460.19
201752,2872790.12

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 Buckhannon (1,545ft), 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

Upshur County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Upshur County, West Virginia?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 5 near Buckhannon and the season winds down around March 13. 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 20.
How much maple syrup does Upshur County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 12 maple operations in Upshur County with 1,289 taps producing 246 gallons of syrup, ranking 7 of 29 West Virginia's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Upshur County get in a season?
On average 51.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Buckhannon, of which about 12.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1991 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Buckhannon (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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