Severe cold conditions continued in many parts of the northern region where Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir registered a minimum temperature of minus 20.2 degree Celsius. Cool breeze swept across the national capital this morning leading to a marginal decline in mercury levels. The minimum this morning settled a notch below normal at seven degrees. At 22.6 degrees, the maximum yesterday was however a degree above average. Today the sky will remain partly cloudy with maximum and minimum temperature likely to oscillate between 22 and seven degrees. Weatherman predicts similar weather conditions to prevail over the coming days. The 'Queen of Hills', Shimla, shivered under piercing cold wave following fresh snowfall and sleet. An icy spell was cast over Kashmir with Kargil town in Ladakh region settling at 20.2 degrees below freezing point and Leh recording a low of minus 18.4 deg C.Pahalgam in south Kahsmir was the coldest in the Valley with minus 8.7 deg C. Most parts of Punjab experienced the winter chill while people in parts of Haryana had slight relief as mercury jumped by a few notches there. In Rajasthan, SriGanganagar was the coldest place with a minimum temperature of 5.1 degree Celsius followed by Bikaner at 7.2 deg C.