Amidst wide climatic variations and temperatures remaining significantly above normal on several days, rainfall over Punjab during the month of March has been deficient by 25 per cent.From March 1 till the morning of March 31, Punjab received 16.3 mm rain compared to the long period average of 21.8 mm for this period, according to data compiled by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).During the month, Ropar was the wettest district in the state with 49.3 mm rain, followed by Pathankot with 45.6 mm and Gurdaspur with 39.8 mm rain. On the other hand, the hardest hit districts were Muktsar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Fazilka, where the deficiency ranged up to 89 per cent.Over the past 24 hours, light rain occurred at few places in Punjab. The highest maximum temperature recorded in the state was 33 degrees Celsius at Faridkot while the lowest minimum temperature was 15 degrees Celsius at Amritsar. The temperatures across the state, according to IMD, were near normal.A western disturbance over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu at 3.1 kms above mean sea level and an upper air cyclonic circulation lies over southwest Rajasthan and its neighbourhood 1.5 kms above sea level.A sub-tropical westerly jet stream with core winds of the order of 185 kmph at 12.6 kms above mean sea level prevails over north India. A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect north-west India from April 2 and the induced upper air cyclonic circulation over Punjab and adjoining Haryana has become less marked.Under the influence of these weather systems, light to moderate rain is likely at some places in Punjab from April 1 to 6, though April 2 is expected to be dry, according to a bulletin issued by IMD on March 31.Thunderstorm and lightning along with gusty winds at isolated places is also possible. Isolated hailstorm activity is also likely over neighbouring states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on April 3 and 4.