http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7n.html

Wind blows from high to low pressure. Because Earth is a sphere and is rotating, the circulation is much more complicated than a simple line or vector.

This diagram shows the general wind patterns of Earth. There is a general sinking of air over the colder poles and rising in the tropics, but this pattern is broken into latitudinal regions. In the Great Lakes region we spend most of our time in the mid-latitude cell and part of our time in the polar cell, with the Polar Front at the boundary.

Coasts are important sites for winds because of the differential heating of water and land. At night winds blow from land to water and they are opposite in the daytime, during solar heating. 

Coastal winds are Michigan’s most important energy asset.  The potential for power generation is enormous, and it is very likely that offshore wind turbines will make the region self sufficient and generate many local jobs for the region.

Wikimedia Commons