Changelog

The weather warnings page was asking the National Weather Service for the island's forecast zone and the Straits of Mackinac marine zone, but not for Mackinac County. Those are separate lists, and the county one is where severe thunderstorm, tornado, flash flood and air quality alerts are published. So the page could show gales on the crossing and a heat advisory, and would have stayed silent through a severe thunderstorm warning. It now reads the county as well. Nothing was missed that we know of — no such warning was issued for the island while the gap was open — but it would have been.

Pick St. Ignace or Mackinaw City and see tonight's last boat back to the island, what the ferry round trip costs, where to park on the mainland, and which errands — the ER, a pharmacy, the Walmart — are on each side. The last-boat times are the operator's published schedule, so it always points you to their live page to be sure.

The town page now opens with a colored-pencil drawing of Arch Rock, the limestone arch on the wooded bluff above the Straits of Mackinac.

How packages, groceries, building materials and the mail actually reach a car-free island: the freight boats from St. Ignace, the horse-drawn dray that finishes every delivery, what Amazon and UPS do here, and what changes when ice thins the boats to planes. Written so the answer to 'where is my package?' is understood before it's asked.

On an island the lake's level is the shoreline — the docks, the beaches, and M-185, which the 2019–2020 high water ate into the lake. This page reads NOAA's Mackinaw City gauge and the published lakewide record back to 1918, and says where Lake Michigan–Huron stands today against chart datum, this month's long-term average, and the records — plus the official six-month outlook. Every comparison is computed from the published series, and a lake level is never presented as a statement about waves or shoreline safety.

The National Weather Service alerts in force for the island and — new for the platform — for the Straits of Mackinac marine zone itself, the water the ferries cross. Gale and storm warnings, winter storms, lakeshore flooding and small-craft advisories all show in one place, with the wind at the island right now. The page is plain that a small-craft advisory doesn't stop the ferries and that sailing is always the operators' call.

Both ferry companies' online booking fee is $3 a ticket, not $2; the Ferries tool now shows the right amount and is re-checked as of June 2026.

The numbers that matter — 911, the medical center and the winter air taxi — grouped by who actually handles what, including the city-vs-state-park split that decides who to call about a street, a trail, or M-185.

A ferry board that works out the last boat home tonight, with 2026 fares and the real mainland-parking picture; a season guide for the island's seasonal workers; and a community noticeboard. The ferry tool is the published schedule, not a live feed — it links the companies too.