The national Capital Delhi witnessed another day of “severe cold” on Friday as the minimum temperature dropped to 4.4 degrees Celsius, NDTV reported quoting the India Meteorological Department. While the Safdarjung observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4 degrees Celsius, the city’s Palam weather station registered the lowest temperature mark of 3.4 degrees Celsius.

A “cold day” is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is at least 4.4 degrees Celsius below normal, while a “severe” cold day is when the maximum temperature is at least 6.5 notches below normal.

“Icy winds are blowing from the snow-clad mountains towards Delhi now,” Kuldeep Shrivastava, regional weather forecasting centre head at IMD, told the Hindustan Times. “Around December 15 to 20, we also see a sharp fall in temperatures as sun rays are falling slightly slanted and not vertical.”

Meanwhile, experts predict that the spell of cold weather is likely to extend till December 21, due to the “feels like” temperature, reported the Hindustan Times.

“The “feels like” temperature is much lower because of the icy cold winds that are blowing at 15 to 20 kilometres per hour,” Mahesh Palawat, Vice President, climate change and meteorology at Skymet Weather, told the newspaper. “We don’t expect relief from the bitter cold till December 21.”

The weather department also predicted that cold wave conditions are likely to persist over pockets of neighbouring areas of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, West Uttar Pradesh and north Rajasthan.