DeKALB – Hazardous weather is expected to hit Tuesday in DeKalb County.

According to the National Weather Service, severe thunderstorms and forceful winds ranging from 40 mph to 50 mph are anticipated for Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Sophomore meteorologist major and member of NIU’s forecasting team Kelvin Hawthorne stated dangerous storms may occur later in the afternoon.

“We’re basically expecting a couple rounds of thunderstorms to come through,” Hawthorne said. “The first, I think roughly between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and this one’s the one we’re mainly concerned about because the temperatures tomorrow are going to get into the mid ‘60s and the dewpoint is going to be quite high. So, it’ll be quite warm, quite humid and anytime we get that, we are looking at the chance for severe thunderstorms.”

Hawthorne said that due to the severity of the storm, there is a possibility severe weather may affect DeKalb.

“Right now, the highest tornado potential looks out further west. However, I think that if you are to get storms to develop and they do move into the DeKalb area, they will certainly have the risk of all hazards including tornados, large hail and damaging winds,” Hawthorne said. “Our level three out of five risk for severe weather is for all of those hazards.”

For commuter students, Hawthorne suggests taking time to be aware of risks while traveling. Those who need to travel west on their way back home may experience a higher risk of severe weather.

“If you have real late classes, talking after 3 p.m., it would probably be smart to make some preparations to either go home earlier or head to campus a little bit earlier than you normally would,” Hawthorne said. “If you’re coming from out west or going back home towards the west, you have sort of a higher risk than if you were going towards the suburbs.”