TOI photo by R Ramesh Shankar)

CHENNAI: After 196 days of hot and dry weather, Chennai finally got a respite on Thursday afternoon as several parts of the city started receiving rain.Going by weather blogger Pradeep John ’s forecast, it will be a wet weekend, as rainfall is expected at least for the next six days.A sudden spell started at around 3pm in several southern parts of the city, including Velachery, OMR Tiruvanmiyur, Nanganallur, Meenambakkam Madipakkam and Porur.Several residents began posting messages, photos and videos of rain on social media sites, and #Chennairains began to trend on Twitter.“It’s goodbye to 40+C hot days from tomorrow. Rain probability in Chennai from today till next six days. Not all spells will be widespread and don’t expect rain in north Chennai when it is raining in south Chennai. At least, each place in the city will get at least 2-3 rainy day,” John said in his latest online post.