PEORIA — The arctic air that has gripped much of the Midwest made Monday the coldest New Year's Day ever in Peoria.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln said the mercury never got above 2 below zero, five degrees colder than the previous coldest high temperature, set in 1974, for Jan. 1. And the low? That was 16 below zero. Add in the windchill and it felt like 30 below zero in the overnight hours, said Chris Geelhart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Midday, he said, the windchill made temperatures, which were around 3 below zero, seem a dozen degree colder.

It's cold. But yet, it's not even the coldest day on record. That, said the weather service, was on Jan. 5, 1884, when temperatures plunged to 27 below zero and topped out at 16 below zero.

A wind-chill warming remained in effect until noon Tuesday for Peoria and much of central Illinois. Monday, Springfield tied its lowest temperature for New Year's Day, 13 below zero, also set in 1974.

"The dangerously cold wind chills will cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes to exposed skin. Expect wind chills to range from 15 below zero to 30 below zero," the weather service warned. "This level of cold has not occurred for a few years. People who will be outdoors the next few days need to make sure they are properly dressed for the bitter cold."

Frigid temperatures, fueled by a jet stream that is pulling air from Northwestern Canada and sending it down across the Midwest and the East Coast, are forecast to last for much of the week, Geelhart said. Tuesday morning could actually be colder overall than Monday and subzero wind chills were forecast through Friday. A reprieve is coming Sunday when a relatively balmy high of 30 degrees is forecast.

Peoria's not used to such subzero cold. Since 2000, Peoria has had only two days — not just Jan. 1 but all days — where the high didn't reach zero, Geelhart said.

Several people were huddled in the Peoria Police Department's lobby to escape the frigid weather.