Mother Nature seemed to fast forward to winter, and many Iowa State students are unprepared for cold weather.

Officials at the Student Health Center warn that ignoring winter conditions may be a health hazard.

Oftentimes students either don’t realize or don’t pay attention to health risks in cold weather, said Mary Engstrom, Student Health education coordinator.

She said all students, including freshmen and international students, must learn to prevent winter-related illness.

Michelle Konnath, a freshman in liberal arts and sciences, said the snowstorm earlier this week caught her by surprise.

“I didn’t expect it to get cold this soon before Thanksgiving,” she said. “I forgot [warm clothing], so I’ll have to go out and buy all new stuff.”

Konnath, a resident of Towers, said since the weather turned cold, walking to campus may be out of the question.

“Once I get [home] from campus, I don’t want to go back,” she said. “The bus is going to come in very handy.”

Kristine Hill, a junior in veterinary medicine from Wyoming, said adapting to winter in Iowa as a freshman was difficult.

“It was a really hard adjustment,” she said. “It’s a lot colder for a lot longer … when it blows here, it chills you to the bone.”

Mark Blaedel, interim director of the Student Health Center, said most students suffer from bronchitis and other respiratory infections during the winter.

He said Student Health even sees some cases of frostbite each year.

Frostbite is a freezing of the skin and underlying tissue, which usually occurs after prolonged exposure to temperatures below freezing. Blaedel said students who ride their bicycles on campus in windchill conditions particularly are susceptible to minor frostbite.

Blaedel said a major health concern in the winter is the flu epidemic.

Most students, however, can avoid the flu before it strikes, he said.

“We wish students at risk would come in for a flu shot,” he said. “This is the opportune time to come in … it’s one of the few things we can prevent.”

Engstrom said layering clothes is one of the best ways to combat the cold.

She said layering beats wearing just a coat because “if the weather warms up by noon hour and you get hot, you can always take a layer off,” she said.

She said to always keep a coat, hat, gloves and a scarf handy and to listen to weather reports, especially when there is a windchill.

Blaedel said students will thank themselves for taking health precautions in the winter.

“There are enough reasons students don’t want to study; we don’t want health to be one,” he said.