The tornado, one of Mother Nature’s most menacing products, can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and is so turbulent it can throw cars and destroy buildings with the sweep of one pass.

March is said to come in like a lion and with its roar comes the threat of tornadoes. Tornadoes are likely to occur when warm, moist, unstable air collides with cold air from cold fronts and is combined with high wind speed.

Mike Bell, forecaster for the National Weather Service in Rockford, monitors weather activity in the United States and forecasts the weather for the nine-county area in northwest Illinois. Tornadoes moving in a forward direction obtain speeds between 40-70 miles per hour. The rotating speed depends on the size and strength of the tornado.

Bell outlined some precautionary measures to take if a tornado is sighted.

“If you sight a tornado, report where it is but only if you can do it without being endangered. The most important thing is to seek shelter,” Bell said. “If you’re in your car seek shelter under an overpass or in a ditch. Don’t try to outrun the tornado because it can change direction and move up to speeds of 70 miles per hour.”

Bell distinguished the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning. A watch is put out when favorable weather conditions exist. A warning, however, should be taken much more seriously because it means a tornado or funnel cloud has been sighted or the radar has indicated the high probability of a tornado’s occurrence.

The National Weather Service in Rockford uses radars and groups of trained tornado spotters to monitor for tornadoes. All counties have a team of trained tornado spotters called Skywarn, which seeks out tornadoes and warns the weather service when one is spotted.

NIU has a program similar to Skywarn called the Severe Storms Forecast Operations Project. The program entails going out into a field during a thunderstorm with the prospect of sighting a tornado.

Gilbert Sebenste, a senior meteorology student, has been storm-chasing for four years and has witnessed several tornadoes while participating in the program. Photos, videos and meteorological instruments measuring temperature, wind and moisture are used during the expeditions in order to learn about how tornadoes are formed, Sebenste said.

“We don’t understand why and when tornadoes form,” Sebenste said. “Storm-watching is a way to try and figure this out.”

Sebenste said he believes peak tornado season occurs during late March and continues until May. Most tornadoes are sighted between 3 and 7 p.m. However, they can and do occur at any time of the year.

According to the National Weather Service, the state of Illinois has an average of 25 tornadoes a year and recorded 24 last year. In addition, Illinois ranks ninth in tornado frequency and seventh in tornado fatalities.

Most tornadoes occur in the Great Plains, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley in an area called “tornado alley.” The frequency of tornadoes in this region is a result of geography.

“Storms feed off the Gulf of Mexico and the moisture is drawn northward. The collision of this along with the cold air from Canada and other conditions are the most favorable for tornadoes to develop,” Sebenste said.

The most recent occurrence of tornado disaster occurred in Florida.

“There were about 50 tornadoes, but they occurred after dark. The ones that occur after dark are difficult to spot, which is why there were so many,” Sebenste said. “Some may have been down bursts, which are straight line winds. The National Weather Service is there trying to determine how many were down bursts and how many were real tornadoes.”

If a tornado were to occur in DeKalb, Public Safety would alert every building on campus.

“If you’re on campus it is important to put as many walls between you and the tornado as you possible can,” Sebenste said. “Go into the interior of a building in the lowest level.”