ISLE ROYALE, MI - Today's summer solstice means we all get a little more time to enjoy the daylight.
But some of us will get to bask in the sunset and that twilight glow a little longer than others.
The amount of daylight you will see during today's solstice - typically billed as "the longest day of the year" - depends on where you live in Michigan. The farther north you sit, the more light you'll get.
That means those on Isle Royale tonight are the big winners. They will see the latest sunset in all of Michigan. The sun will disappear on the island's western end at 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Marquette.
This remote island jutting out of Lake Superior is closer to Canada than it is to the Upper Peninsula's mainland. And getting there takes a little planning. Unless you live on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, you've got a bit of a drive ahead of you. Then you'd need to spend a few hours on a boat. Or rent a seaplane.
For those of us on the mainland, here are a few other sunrise/sunset times where the day will last longer in Northern Michigan, according to the weather service.
-Copper Harbor: 15 hours, 58 minutes (5:54 a.m. - 9:52 p.m.)
-Ironwood: 15 hours, 50 minutes (5:07 a.m. - 8:57 p.m.)
-Marquette:15 hours, 50 minutes (5:56 a.m. - 9:46 p.m.)
-Menominee: 15 hours, 38 minutes (5:03 a.m. - 8:41 p.m.)
-Drummond Island: 15 hours, 45 minutes (5:44 a.m. - 9:29 p.m.)
Here are a handful of sunrise/sunset times for the Lower Peninsula today:
-Holland: (6:06 a.m. - 9:26 p.m.)
-Grand Rapids: (6:03 a.m. - 9:25 p.m.)
-Detroit: (5:55 a.m. - 9:12 p.m.)
-Kalamazoo: (6:05 a.m. - 9:22 p.m.)
-Muskegon: (6:05 a.m. - 9:28 p.m.)
-Traverse City: (5:56 a.m. - 9:31 p.m.)
-Mackinaw City (5:49 a.m. - 9:32 p.m.)
-Petoskey: (5:51 a.m. - 9:31 p.m.)
-Saginaw: (5:55 a.m. - 9:20 p.m.)
-Jackson: (6:01 a.m. - 9:17 p.m.)
-Bay City: (5:54 a.m. - 9:20 p.m.)
-Ann Arbor: (5:58 a.m. - 9:15 p.m.)
The actual time of this year's summer solstice was 12:24 a.m. Wednesday.
The name itself mean "sun stands still" in Latin, meaning the sun is at its highest point in the sky. For a few days before and after the solstice, the sun appears to travel the same path in the sky.
MLive Meteorologist Mark Torregrossa has noted that the summer solstice may be the astronomical start of summer, but the month of June remains the meteorological start of the season. Its easier to compare weather data if summer runs neatly from June 1 to August 31.
But Mother Nature is not so exact. The date of the solstice changes each year, with minutes of light slipping here and there across the map.
So enjoy the light where you are. And know that you've got the bulk of summer - and warmer temperatures - ahead of you.