In the wake of Severe Weather Preparedness Week, NIU Staff Meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste is warning students of spring’s potential for severe weather.

“If the skies are dark, be on the watch for severe weather,” Sebenste said.

The DeKalb area averages about two severe weather storms a year. Weather qualifies as ‘severe’ if there is hail more than three quarters of an inch in diameter, wind gusts 58 mph or greater or a tornado, he said.

“Last year was extremely active and we’ve seen signs that this year could be extreme as well,” Sebenste said.

Tornado warnings every few years are par for the course in DeKalb County, he said, but last year the county experienced five warnings. Four warnings affected the city of DeKalb and two tornados whirled within sight of the university.

NIU is just one of six universities in the country prepared for severe weather such as tornadoes.

“The bottom line is that we were the first university in the country to be classified as StormReady by the National Weather Service,” Sebenste said.

NIU qualified for the voluntary program in 2003, he said. Program members partner with and receive advice from their local weather service office and state and local emergency managers.

On a milder note, warmer weather for DeKalb should not be expected until mid-March, Sebenste said.

The recent cold weather has been due to a cold front arriving from northern Canada and entering south into the Great Lakes, Sebenste said. The March sun keeps the weather from being even colder, he said.

This weather seems out of place due to February’s above-average temperatures, Sebenste said.

“[The cold weather is] more pronounced because of the warm February,” Sebenste said. “The average temperature was six degrees above normal for February.”

Some NIU students said they do not think temperatures have been uncharacteristically low.

Doug Meenan, a junior manufacturing engineering technology major, has lived in Illinois his entire life. He said this causes him to expect the cold weather to last into March.

Senior English major Noel Rafiei commutes to NIU and said the school should work on the parking situation during snowy weather.

“Parking is a hassle,” Rafiei said. “People can’t tell where the lines are, so they take up more room.”

Junior special education major Ruevina Goodman and junior history major Paul LaLonde both said NIU should try to improve the icy sidewalks.

“The ice is usually the only bad thing,” LaLonde said. “[NIU] needs to do a better job of breaking [the ice] up, especially around the residence halls.”

For more information on severe weather preparedness, go to www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/severe/svrwxweek05.htm.