<p>Rain in Chennai marks the beginning of northeast monsoon.<br></p>

CHENNAI: With the city registering it's highest 24-hour rainfall so far this season of 101.6mm, weather experts said the best is yet to come. After a brief lull, experts forecast a weather system may form over Bay of Bengal to bring another spell of heavy rains.

The regional meteorological centre, Chennai, has forecast light to moderate rainfall in some areas in the next 48 hours. As the trough which brought heavy spells fizzled out, daytime temperature is likely to rise to a maximum of 32 C and the minimum would hover around 25 C. Meteorologists said the wind and moisture would concentrate the low pressure area over southeast Arabian sea, which is likely to intensify around October 20.

By next week, experts said a low pressure area is likely to form over southwest Bay of Bengal off Tamil Nadu , which is expected to bring heavy spells of rain that may surpass the present record. "Chances are bright that Chennai will surpass its monthly average rainfall this year," said Skymet Weather in an online post.

Chennai's average rainfall for October is 315.6mm and the city has so far received 142mm.

101.6mm rainfall recorded at Nungambakkam observatory is one of the four 24-hour highest in the month of October in the last 10 years. The previous three-digit records were 246.5mm on October 16, 2015, 182.7mm on October 3, 2017 and 150mm on October 5, 2009.

