Jack Frost left his off-season temporarily to make a sweep through DeKalb last night, and he’s expected to stay until tomorrow.

DeKalb residents found themselves under an overnight freeze warning last night, with temperatures expected to drop into the upper 20s for at least two to three hours, NIU staff meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste said.

Some might have been surprised to find snow falling from the sky Monday morning, though Sebenste said this not an uncommon occurrence.

“Flurries are possible every few years in May,” he said. “Needless to say, it’s depressing for most folks that want spring to start coming on quickly.”

Bernadette Ciezczak, a junior elementary education major, is surprised that it is this cold in May.

“It’s too close to the summer months for people to wear jackets and hats,” Ciezczak said. “April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, and I don’t see any flowers!”

Sebenste recalls local temperatures dropping as many as 50 degrees or more in one day locally, and days in the Dakotas that have gone from 80 degrees to minus 10 degrees in one day.

“While temperature flip-flopping dramatically this time is normal, we’re on the side of the temperature that most people, including myself, don’t like,” Sebenste said.

Today, DeKalb residents can expect the weather to be in the mid 50s, though due to the dry air it is expected to cool off again tonight with the possibility of another frost or freeze.

This kind of weather has the potential to impose significant damage to plants and vegetation, Sebenste said.

“If you have any plants outdoors – flowers and such – cover them with plastic, and that’s really all you can do,” he said, “besides be unhappy about the fact that the weather is chilly.”

However, like with many instances involving weather, the clouds in the sky do have a silver lining.

The jet stream that brought us this frigid weather from northern Canada is expected to change dramatically within the next five days, and by Sunday temperatures could reach the 80s, Sebenste said.