With winter in the rearview mirror and spring approaching at a furious speed, the weather could take a violent turn in the coming months.

In Illinois, March 4-10 was Severe Weather Preparedness Week — a warning of warmer weather that brings with it an increased possibility for severe storms and tornadoes.

NIU staff meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste expects early spring to indicate whether DeKalb should expect violent storms in April and May.

“As of right now, I don’t know whether or not to expect the likeliness of more or less severe weather than is normal,” he said. “If the early stages of spring are full of moisture, then more water will in turn evaporate, setting the stage for increased energy in the air to stimulate violent storms.”

Sebenste recently researched the number of tornadoes that have hit locally during tornado season’s peak in March, April and May. His main goal this year is to make sure students and faculty are aware of oncoming storms, if they occur.

“NIU Weather is striving to make sure that all students, faculty and staff know about a severe thunderstorm, flash flood or tornado warning within three minutes of issue by the National Weather Service,” he said.

A variety of methods currently give faculty members and students immediate notice about tornadoes, including a siren located next to Campus Recreation Center; 155 weather radios spread across campus; weather bulletins sent via e-mail, pagers and cell phones; and the Web site http://weather.admin.niu.edu.

Although tornadoes haven’t hit DeKalb directly in the past decade, Sebenste said there have been a few close calls.

“In 1990, the infamous Plainfield tornado hovered right over us as a massive, spinning cloud rotation with winds upwards of 70 mph,” he said. “In 1996, a small tornado hit a city just south of here that destroyed a home. During that same year, we had four weak tornadoes fall around the city.”

In recent years, the time it takes to warn DeKalb residents of a tornado has greatly decreased, Sebenste said.

“If a tornado forms and lands directly over DeKalb, the span of time for warnings might be as little as a few seconds to a few moments,” he said. “A monster tornado that has touched down and is detectable on radar can give people almost 45 minutes of warning. On average, the time for warning people of confirmed, approaching tornadoes is about 22 minutes.”

Sebenste also tries to inform people of where to go when sirens sound.

“For those who have ample warning, I would obviously hope that they immediately go down to the many tornado shelters positioned all over campus buildings,” he said. “But for those who are located in the upper parts of, say, Stevenson or Grant towers, who have only a moment’s notice, I would advise that they go to the interior of a bathroom as a best means of protection.”

Sebenste noted that buildings like Stevenson and Grant should hold up against weaker tornadoes, but severe tornadoes with higher winds and worse debris could cause massive destruction.

“A weaker tornado would definitely bust the window open of any building on campus and probably suck out many objects in the rooms — that includes people sleeping near windows,” he said. “A stronger tornado would guarantee mass destruction to the foundation of most buildings on campus.”

Sebenste advises people to be alert of possible severe storms when the weather looks ugly, and to consider what they would do if DeKalb were suddenly struck.

“You never know,” he said. “You may just do that this spring.”