Most places in Punjab and Haryana reeled under cold weather conditions on Sunday with Hisar being the coldest in the region with a low at 2.7 degrees Celsius.
Piercing cold also swept Amritsar in Punjab, which recorded a low of 3.8 degrees Celsius. Ludhiana at 4.2 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal and Patiala at a low of 5.7 degrees Celsius were among other places in Punjab which reeled under intense cold.
Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana too, experienced a cold night at 5.9 degrees Celsius. Also, there was no let-up in biting chill at most places in Haryana, with Narnaul recording a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.
Among other places in Haryana, Ambala, Bhiwani and Karnal experienced cold weather at 6.2 degrees, 6.5 degrees and 4 degrees Celsius respectively.
The local Met Department has forecast light rainfall in parts of the region in next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, neighboring Himachal has been experiencing a marginal rise in the temperatures due to prevailing dry weather.
"There are chances of rainfall and snowfall in the state on January 23," said an official at the Meteorological office.
He said the western disturbances - storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region - would be active in the region till January 24.
Rains may lash towns in lower hills such as Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi that will push down the mercury.
The state capital Shimla is yet to receive the season's first snowfall. Picturesque town Manali had experienced a mild spell of snow on December 11 last year and after that there no snowfall at all.
Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state on Sunday with a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius. Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 7.6 degrees, five degrees above average.
Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of three degrees, while it was 6.8 degrees at Dharamsala, minus 0.6 degree in Manali and 9.8 degrees in Dalhousie.