weather for this year

[PATheron]

You weather nut guys on here. Whats your gut feel for this year? Seems cold down here and looks like January is going to be all froze up without a thaw which makes me happy. Sometimes we warm early down here and you need to get it becouse the season may quit early but Im thinking this is looking like a little more normal year. Whats the guess as to the trees being sweet too. Need some weather experts. Theron

[Dave Y]

I am not the Farmers Almanac or Accuweather. But I think you are right about January. I would be surprised if we get a thaw. Probably wont warm much until february. Then when it does i think we will get some sap. I wouldn't say the season will be in full swing but there should be some late february syrup made in this neck of the woods. just my thoughts

[red maples]

well I think we are having a fairly easy winter so far up here, but that can change on a dime. weather folks are saying that this is one of the worst winters ever, but I think that is for the folks down south who get a flurry and the towns close down for 3-4 days.

[PATheron]

Thats what Im thinking too Dave and Im real good with that. That will let me get everything perfect hopefully for an easier season. Im trying to finetune everything. I bet you cant wait for the season with the new rig. Are you going to have any tubing on vac for this year? Theron

[PATheron]

Brad- That Joe Bascardi says this is going to be the coldest winter for the east coast in 30 years. Thats what kind of has me wondering. Theron

[red maples]

I don't know last year was pretty bad here I have seen colder when I lived in north west jersey back in think it was the early 90's it was -25F for 3 days in a row without the wind chill. and it was -18 for 1 day last year here and those were the coldest temps in some time. so we'll see. the temp usuallty trickle down from alaska ...if the acorn theory holds true t(the more you get the worse the winter)which this was the most I have ever senn and taking into acount that my husky's fur is the thickest I have ever seen then we are in for it.

[KenWP]

I come from the land of 45 below and if you know your celcius thats friggen cold. I don't find it really cold here most of the time. It was 23 below C before Xmas and my whole class was late for school. Me and the kid who just got out of the army were sitting there wondering where everybody was. What kills me is the moisture. I spent 40 years with a nose that bled and it stopped when i moved to Quebec and my hands do not crack so bad. I expect a few more days of cold again before the end of Feb.

[3rdgen.maple]

Im in a whole other world her Patheron. I need a January thaw to get some of the snow out of here. If we do not get that it usually makes for a short season. Too much snow pack at the base of the trees and they just don't produce well and when they finally do it is a short season. Which is pretty much what happened to me last year. You guys were all bragging about a banner year and I was thinking you guys were all nuts until I put it all together. So for me I need the thaw or alot more taps to compensate for not getting it. My grandfather always said don't bother tapping till you got a melt ring around the base of the trees cause you are gonna spend alot of time waiting. I have kept an eye out for that and so far he was right.

[Dave Y]

Theron,
I can wait, I took the edge off last month when I boiled water. I have a Vac pump and a realeser all I have to do is get electric to the location and set it up. That will be last as I am adding 400 taps to the system.

[Dill]

It has been pretty easy around here this year. We got that week of wicked cold in dec. Single digits mid dec is odd. But we haven't got that much snow. Which I'm happy with since I still need to build the sugar house.

[KenWP]

I had the same problem with my trees. With out a melt ring around the tree no sap or just a trickle. Off of 50 taps it took me over a week to get 40 gallons of sap stored up. As the season progressed the trees started giving another cup or more of sap a day and I just kept adding more and more taps and then one day wham I had a flood for a week and a half and then warmed up and nothing.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am south of about all of you guys and it has been cold here for close to a month. Last winter was about the coldest on record and this one didn't start until after Dec 10th, but it has been cold since. Most days are 20 degrees or more below normal. No we don't get the 25 below you guys see, but we do see below zero normally every year. Quite a bit of snow on the ground and about 50+ inches of snow so far this winter at the sugarhouse, so quite a bit for us. Be interested to see what happens, not abnormal to see days in 50s or even 60 a day or two in Jan when we get a thaw or two, but not the case this year. Hope it warms up a little as I need a full day in the woods walking lines and making repairs. Normal tapping here is Feb 1 thru 10, but I tap in 3 stages, so I may not tap the north bush which now has aprox 210 taps until March 1st.

[red maples]

I just looked at the 10 day forcast on the weather channel web site and the next little snow is for friday and thats nothing no snow in the forcast after that and average temps around 30F after this weekend...not really cold at all. all together this winter we have got about 18 inches total and it came in waves with rain mix in there somewhere and we only have a few inches on the ground right now!!! wanna go snow shoeing but can't because not enough snow. oh well. hopefully it won't be a really late winter here with below avaerage temps for march then it will be a sucky season.

[3% Solution]

Hey Pa,
What's your zip code.
I'll do some research.

Dave

[Smith's Maple]

This is the most snow we have had here in a few years. I have about 30 inches in the woods right now. We have been getting 3 to 6 inches every day since last thursday and the wind is really blowing it around. We got used to the easyer winters where it snow a few inches and then melts three days later. Might have to break the snow shoe's out this year.

[Russell Lampron]

The weather now doesn't make much difference as far as how warm or cold it is as long as it is somewhere near normal. The weather in March is what will make or break your season. As far as sugar content goes it was a cool, cloudy and rainy summer here for the most part. The trees need sun to make sugar. I'm thinking that the sugar content will below average this season.

[PATheron]

3%- Its 16933. Theron

[3% Solution]

PA,
Ok here it is, after long thought about the changes in the seasons.
Your average temps for February is a high of 35, low of 14.
Your average temps for March is a high of 45, low of 23.
Keep in mind the data for these averages is for the past 25 or more years.
Usually these trends will run very close, within a week or so.
The change of the seasons is more dependant upon the earth's tilt and it's closeness to the sun.
So, I would say your going to be right where you always have been at that time of year temperature wise.
As the time gets closer keep your eye on the monthly and weekly forecast.
I have a site that is caller Daily Planner and works good for planning any sap runs.
Hope this helps.

Dave

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Lot of snow here on the ground and a lot more apparently coming tomorrow night and Friday. Never used snowshoes, but if it keeps this up, I may have to order a set to even tap with as there is no end in sight, just more snow.

[Z/MAN]

Used snow shoes to tap two years ago. First time I ever had them on and I was really surprised how easy they make walking in the snow!

[farmall h]

How much snow do you have Brandon? Probably 14" in the woods here.

[smitty76]

only about 2 in here in south/central ny

[red maples]

well the farmers almanac... was right again so far chilly and dry for the notheast...well for me anyway.

[3rdgen.maple]

Haa haaa Red the almanac is way off for me. It finally stopped snowing here today and look out cause there is another storm coming tomarrow into the weekend.

[red maples]

yes your gettin' it man!!!

I seeit snowing all over the place even in the south like the folks are saying I want a good blizzard here haven't had good 2-3 footer in a while here the best we did was last year a few weeks before x-mas we got 1' on saturday and 1' on sunday. ...I know everyone says no no but I love it the more the better so listen 3rdgen after your done with this next storm send it my way OK. One of those storms that clear out all the bread and milk from the supermarkets. nothing forcasted here for a while just the 1-2 incher tomorrow ...BIG DEAL!!!

[SAP EATER]

Ok Guy's its been snowing like hell here for the last week and today we have a storm coming in from the west and then tomorrow we are going to get lake effect from the Lake Erie snow machine.As of today I have about 30" in my yard I 'll give ya all some!:D

[red maples]

thanks man!! I knew some one would pitch in!!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Bob,

I would guess there is close to 2' on the ground at the sugarhouse. We don't have quite that much where we live, but we picked up another 12 inches this weekend.


How much snow do you have Brandon? Probably 14" in the woods here.

[farmall h]

I wish we only received 2". I posted earlier that it was -20 below this am.

[KenWP]

Got cold last night. The end of next week is supposed to be tres froid also. I can hardly wait. But seems it gets real cold this time of year then warms up a bit and then we get Feb. and then weeeeeee March. Where I come from March means wind then more wind then the wind really blows.

[red maples]

was 2F here this morning but got up to about 25 this afternoon but the sun was very warm I smoked up some ribs and was out on the deck. The sun felt nice on my face. I think its suppose get up to like 37 on thursday but then back down after that.

[On the ledge]

Only have bout 2 inches on the ground, but live on the side of a little hill with a great view to the west in the summer but this time of year any wind over 5 mph makes it awfully cold . This sounds crazy but I would like some more snow to keep my sap cold in March but I have only 30 taps

[Gumlaw's sugar shack]

I'd like to see a little more snow up here in northern clinton county. The thaw mixed with rain really did a number on it. But there is plenty of winter left and it changes like the drop of a hat here so we'll see. I hope this season will have us all going like a one legged man in an *** kickin' contest. Good luck.:mrgreen:

[KenWP]

Weather is weird this winter. Down south is cold and we are warm. The long range forecast shows that the winter should be reasonable to say the least. But Feb can be cold so I don't count my buckets till they are dumped.

[OneLegJohn]

Please refrain from one legged jokes..... I'm just kidding.

[Smith's Maple]

We are having our January Thaw. My tubing and mainline's are Just becoming visiable under the snow. All my lines are atleast 2 feet off the ground. I will give it another day or two to melt down, then it's time to check the line's. Should only have 2 to 3 weeks until I drill hole's.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I spent about 2 hours walking lines and repairing lines in my biggest south bush. Able to get about 175 of the 260 taps in it checked and repaired. Was slow going as a lot of laterals and some mainlines were under the snow from limbs on them or just from the simple weight of the 30" of heavy snow we got in about 24 hours. Never had to pull mainlines and laterals out of the snow before like yesterday. Definitely been a different kind of winter here so far. Slow going walking thru 16 to 20 inches of heavy snow, but enjoyable still. Not much squirrel damage this year even though they had basically no mast and haven't seen the ground in a month, so that's a real praise item. We had a ton of very high winds in December this year, so I have been fortunate so far with nothing large down.

[maple flats]

A week ago I had between 24-30 inches in the woods by the sugarhoiuse. After these last few warm days it is about a foot now. I walk the woods tomorrow. Walked one last week and had no big limbs down, just things I could pick up and toss aside. Haven't walked the bigger woods yet, that comes tomorrow. In spots that one tends to get lots of drifting because it is just over a ridge from a large open field and to the leeward side. As the blown snow enters the woods and valley it can get real deep. I'll need to have my snowshoes for many spots for sure. The hills are steep enough that I have to catch trees to hold and rest as i climb. Climbing in snowshoes is a real workout for this old man.