Wind gusts barreled through East Lansing on Sunday night at speeds greater than 40 mph, tearing down tree branches and damaging some residents' belongings.
Scott Kramer said he was watching television a little after 9 p.m. when he heard a branch from his neighbor's tree crash onto the neighbor's driveway. Later that night, another portion of the two-story-high box elder tree fell - this time onto the roof of his neighbor's car.
"I think it's the tree," said Kramer, a building construction management senior. "It's just dying."
Neither the car nor the tree had been moved by Monday afternoon. The Chevrolet Impala's back window was shattered, and its frame was bent beyond repair.
Kramer said he was glad it didn't fall on his side of the property line. His truck barely escaped a similar fate last fall when a portion of the same tree, located on Gunson Street, landed in his yard in October.
History senior Andrew Hartman said he could hear the wind howling outside of his duplex on Stoddard Avenue. Although a branch fell on his roof at about 1 a.m. Monday, he said it wasn't a big surprise.
"It's Michigan, so I try not to pay attention to it," he said.
Meteorologist David Beachler said it is not uncommon for high winds to create problems such as those that occurred Sunday night.
Wind gusts in the Lansing area peaked at about 45 mph on Sunday night, said Beachler, who works for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.
Beachler said the type of storms that rolled through during the weekend might harm siding or shingles but shouldn't cause serious damage to homes.
"Normally, you don't see roofs being ripped off with 50 mph winds," he said. "Of course it could happen if you have a structure that was weak or wasn't built correctly."
While Beachler said the forecast for May includes temperatures above normal, he said there is no way to predict specific storm activity.
"Wind conditions are a shot in the dark," he said. "You don't know where systems are going to develop or how they are going to develop. One part of living in Michigan is seeing the weather change very quickly."
Jessica Danclovic, an interdisciplinary humanities senior, said gusting winds around her unit at Melrose Apartments, 16789 Chandler Road, are more of an annoyance than a danger.
"My roommate has a big box on our balcony that got blown over and knocked over a bunch of bottles," she said. "But earlier today on my way to class, I kept getting dust in my eye. That was really annoying."
