But Melbourne is unlikely to face the worst conditions until tomorrow.
The city woke to one of its coldest mornings of the year — with some suburbs feeling like 0C.
APRIL HEATWAVE HITS CITY
INSIDE LOOK AT HOW MELBOURNE’S WEATHER IS FORECAST
Snow has fallen in Victoria’s Alps with Mt Hotham locals greeted with snowfall at 5am this morning.
More than 50cm of snow is expected to fall in alpine regions in the next 48 hours.
Snow dusted Mount William at the Grampians and there are reports of snow at Mount Buller.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning with strong winds and thunderstorms expected to hit the state this afternoon and continue through the weekend.
Severe weather manager Steven McGibbony said “cold, biting” conditions could take Victorians by surprise with some areas to cop up to 150mm of rainfall and 100km/h winds.
“I’m sure it (will come) as quite a shock to a lot of people after what has been a relatively warm autumn so far,” he said.
“With the rainfall and these strong winds, it’s going to feel very wintry and very cold.”
Mr McGibbony said the cold front had moved over Victoria last night bringing cold, unstable air.
“In the wake of that ... after some very much below-average rainfall over the last three months we are likely to see some soaking rainfall developing across the central and eastern parts of Victoria,” he said.
The strong winds and rain are expected to build in the state’s west this afternoon and move towards the central regions, including Melbourne, tomorrow.
The blustery conditions are likely to move to East Gippsland on Saturday, with the region tipped to receive up to 150mm of rain.
The Bureau has issued a flood warning for the Gippsland and Upper Yarra catchment areas.
State Emergency Services chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch called on motorists to take care to avoid repeating last weekend’s horror, in which eight Victorians lost their lives on the roads.
“Last weekend saw a significant number of fatalities on our roads (so) we really are appealing to Victorians to take it easy ... make sure that you’re alert to your conditions,” he said.
“The heavy rain will bring challenging road conditions so don’t attempt to drive through flood waters — it can take as little as 15cm, the height of a pencil, for a car to float.”
And homeowners should clear gutters and stormwater drains to prevent flooding, he said.
“SES volunteers will be on standby across the state ready to respond to any requests for emergency assistance from the public,” he said.
Check weather alerts and public safety information at emergency.vic.gov.au
CHILLY START TO THE DAY IN CITY
MELBOURNE woke to one of its coldest mornings of the year — with some suburbs feeling like 0C.
And the worst is yet to come, with hail, thunderstorms and heavy rain expected in the next 24 hours.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said Melbourne felt like it was five degrees this morning.
Avalon and Melbourne Airport’s apparent temperature ‘felt like’ it was zero and two degrees respectively.
“Across the state we are struggling to see temperatures in the double figures,” he said earlier this morning.
Mr Efron said hail was expected in any showers to pass through Melbourne later today.
Thunderstorms and lightening have already been reported along Victoria’s southwest coast.
A cold weather front hit Melbourne just after 10.30pm last night, dropping temperatures around the state.
“The cold front brought some chilly conditions, with 8mm of rain recorded in the city and up to 15mm in the outer suburbs overnight,” senior forecaster Dean Stewart said.
“Melbourne will see a mixed bag today with between 3-8mm of rain forecast with a chance of sunshine breaking through later in the day.”
Mr Stewart said despite a chilly top of 13C and a slight chance of hail or thunderstorms the worst of the weather was yet to come.
“A low pressure system will intensify later today bringing stronger rain and winds tomorrow,” he said.
“We’re currently expecting 10-25mm of rain tomorrow (Friday) with strong southerly winds to boot.”
Across the state overnight, Port Ferry saw the most rain with 27mm while Wilson’s Prom saw 24mm and Warrnambool had 21mm of rain.
The cold front is expected to bring about a month’s worth of rain by the end of the week.
Up to 80mm of rain is tipped to bucket down on Melbourne when a cold front sends the mercury plunging across the state.
After a month of unseasonably mild temperatures and little rainfall, Victoria is set to dive into winter with a maximum temperature of 16C forecast over the weekend in the state capital.
For footy fans, Friday night’s MCG clash between Hawthorn and Sydney is set to be a wet affair, with high winds and heavy rainfall predicted.
Chilly conditions will be followed by a low pressure system that will bring heavy rainfall to southern Victoria.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Richard Russell said between 25mm and 80mm of rain was predicted to fall on Melbourne over Friday and Saturday.
“The May average is 55mm to 60mm so the potential is you could see that entire amount over the course of three days,” he said.
“We’ll see a band of rain develop across Victoria with extensive rainfall but there’s a lack of confidence on when exactly this will hit.
“It looks like a low pressure system will develop in the Bass Strait on Friday and from there it will impact eastern Tasmania and southern parts of the state.”
Doonas and heaters are likely to be pulled out of closets from Thursday, with the bureau forecasting a low of 7C and top of 13C.
WE WON’T LISTEN TO NEXT STORM FORECAST
Mr Russell said Melburnians would notice the sharp drop in temperature.
“There is a very significant mass of cold air well south of Western Australia that is tracking towards us,” he said.
“As that initial band arrives, we could even see snow down to 700m or 800m.
“That will be the first main impact but, really, it is just the start of a pretty decent weather system developing from the end of the week,” he said.
Temperatures will ease slightly with heavier rainfall and tops of 15C and 16C tipped over Saturday and Sunday.
Mr Russell said there was a chance of flooding, with hydrologists monitoring the weather system to determine where the hardest rain will fall.
“If those sort of (rainfall) numbers were to come off, you would get some flood watches out over the next few days,” he said.
“It’s likely they will put out flood watches once they hone in on a better range of rainfall.”
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