Most parts of Punjab received light to moderate rain over the past 24 hours, which kept the day temperatures below normal at many places, with the wet spell expected to continue intermittently up to March 26.Barring Moga district, all areas of Punjab received varying amounts of rain. Ropar, which received 14.8 mm rainfall, was the wettest district in the state, followed by Nawansharar with 13.4 mm and Kapurthala with 12.1 mm, according to a bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department on March 20.Rainfall for month of March so far continues to remain deficient. From March 1 till the morning of March 20, the state received 11.9 mm rain against the long period average of 16.5 mm for this period, marking a deficit of 28 per cent.Barnala, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Sangrur and Tarn Taran are the only districts in the state that have received rain above the long period average in March so far. Moga has remained totally dry.During the past 24 hours, the highest maximum temperature recorded in Punjab was 23.4 degrees Celsius, while the lowest minimum temperature was 10 degrees Celsius at Gurdaspur. The day temperatures were below normal at some places by up to 8.6 degrees whereas the night temperatures remained near normal.According to IMD, an upper air cyclonic circulation over west Rajasthan at 1.5 km above mean sea level persists and an upper air cyclonic circulation lies over Haryana and its neighbourhood at 1.5 km above sea level.A western disturbance prevails over north Pakistan and its neighbourhood at 3.1 km above sea level. A fresh feeble western disturbance is likely to affect north-west India from March 22 and another active western disturbance is likely to affect the region from March 26.Under the influence of these weather systems, IMD is expecting light to moderate rain at some places on March 22, 23 25 and 26, whereas the weather is likely to be dry on March 21 and 24.IMD has also predicted another fresh wet spell with isolated to scattered light to moderate rain and snow along with isolated thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds over neighbouring Himachal Pradesh on March 23 and 26 and over Uttarakhand on March 23.A gradual fall in maximum temperatures by 2-3 degrees is likely over north-west India during the next 24 hours and thereafter a gradual rise by 5-7 degrees is expected during the subsequent six days, the IMD said.