By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

LINCOLN – Illinois has never seen an April chill like this.

When the mercury dropped below zero early Monday morning, it broke records for a low temperature in Illinois for the month of April.

Meteorologist Chuck Schaffer with the National Weather Service’s Lincoln station was one that saw the record chill.

“The coldest readings that we saw were -1 in Lincoln and -2 in Paxton,” he said.

Macomb, Lincoln, and Paxton all saw sub-zero temperatures Monday morning.

Illinois had only recorded sub-zero temperatures twice in the month of April, according to Climatologist Dr. Brian Brettschneider‏ of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks,

Schaffer said that there were places nearby that weren’t as cold because there was no snow on the ground.

“Those temps were the result of snow cover that fell across the area the day before,” he said. “That fresh snow cover along with clearing skies overnight and light to calm winds allowed the temperatures to plummet.”

Some areas kept their winter warming stations open for longer than they had planned to accommodate those left to the elements.

The cold front will continue this week to bring frigid temps to the area with Wednesday morning’s lows falling well below freezing.