Snowmageddon '26

Did we get snow in March 2026's snowstorm? Why yes, yes we did. Mackinac Island got a shit-ton of snow. Those are my classroom windows on Monday morning. (School was cancelled, but two teachers live right behind the building and went in to take pictures.)

We easily surpassed two feet (over 60 cm) of snow in this weekend's blizzard, and the wind caused huge drifts.  Luckily Mackinac didn't get any of the ice build up they were expecting, nor did we lose power.

I wasn't able to catch Allen before he started digging out the snowmobiles, but they really need to be on top of the snow to work right. It took us quite a while to get them all dug out and ready to use - not to mention cutting into the bank left behind by the snow plow. Thankfully, the neighbors came over to lend a hand.

Folks also came down to the school to help. Numerous volunteers helped dig us out so we could go back today! This morning I had beautiful sunlight streaming in my windows and clear paths of egress in case of emergency. Definitely a storm for the history books. I can't remember another time we got that much snow in such a short time.

No Garage - No Problem

Most houses on Mackinac Island don't have garages. Many people have storage sheds, or all-weather storage tents like this one to store lawn mowers and things like that. During the summer months, snowmobiles are generally up on palates and tarped in behind or next to houses, but in the winter scenes like this one are very common. Without garages, we all just park our snowmobiles in the yard. It's not like getting snowed on is going to hurt them. 

It's another way you can tell a local snowmobile from  tourist machine - many of ours have cracks in the fabric covered seat cushions from sitting outside winter after winter. We also tend not to ride our snowmobiles all that much. That blue machine above is a 1999, and it's only been driven 2500 miles (about 4,000 km). On a typical day, I ride it one mile (about 1.5 km) to school and a mile home - that's it.