‹ Mackinac Island weather by month

Typical May weather

Mackinac Island

Michigan · May

Everything reopens, cool and fresh, before the rush arrives.

66° days
38° nights

about 6 rainy days · 15 hours of daylight · lake 49°

What to pack

What May feels like

The Grand Hotel opens and the island properly restarts, gardens going in and fudge kitchens firing up. Nights still want a real coat, but a bike ride around M-185 on an empty May morning is the version of this place everyone pictures.

Expect about 6 days with real rain — enough to notice, not enough to plan around. The air runs dry — whatever the thermometer says, it wears easy. about 8 nights dip below freezing.

Can you swim?

The lake runs about 49° — frigid — locals in wetsuits only.

The numbers

Typical high66°
Typical low38°
Days with real rain6
Total rain2.8 in
Humiditydry air
Water temperature49°
Sunrise / sunset (mid-month)6:06 am / 9:03 pm

How May compares

See the whole year in Mackinac Island ›