Michigan State seems to be windy all the year around. One day in February, when I was walking back home along the Michigan Avenue, a strong wind came and nearly pushed me from the sidewalk to the motorway. I believe most of the girls in East Lansing have experienced free messy hairstyle designed by the wind. The messy hair is really annoying when we go outdoors. However, the windy climate in Michigan is far more dangerous than what we thought.

In 2012, Michigan already had five tornadoes. The tornado happened in Dexter on March 15th was only about 65 miles from MSU. The evidence in the past years showed Michigan State is tending to have more tornadoes. Since 1950, southeast Michigan only accumulatively received nine tornadoes, and the last one happened in 1998. But in 2012 we already had four tornadoes. As wind is caused by differences in pressure, the frequently change in the weather is one essential reason of tornadoes. The observed temperature of March is peculiar- on March.5^th it was from 15-29°F, on March.21^st it was from 58-85°F, on March.30^th it was 30-37°F, seems we had both summer and winter in the March.

The frequently change in weather can intensify storms, hails and thunderstorms, and affect our daily life. First of all, the impact on traffic is horrible, the wind can definitely increasing traffic accidents. Furthermore, the simply constructions may collapse. In addition, the unexpectedly wind in spring can hurt blooming of crops, it may lead to pollination of crops cannot be completed, then reduce the productivity of farms, the price of crops would increase as well. People who love flowers, can find petals on ground after winds, indicating us the spring is vanishing.

Due to the flexibility of windy severe weather, we need an agile observing and warning system. I have ever received the mail called “Tonardo warning”, but obviously it is not effective. Severe weather hazards like tornado move fast, when a tornado observed may hurt Michigan State, why not messaging every cell phone in Michigan State to avoid potential hurt? And if website like Facebook or MSU homepage can provide advertisement to help people learn emergency measure can at least help people save life. The best mitigation strategy is to keep people informed.

<sources>

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/tornado_activity_throughout_state

http://www.clickondetroit.com/weather/

http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/48825?month=-1

by  Yiqing Ge