Victorians warned of a possible tornado to hit state’s northwest

Residents in Victoria’s northwest have been warned to brace for a potential tornado with wild storms to bring hail, strong winds and heavy rain.

Victorians are bracing for a “triple threat” weather phenomenon with a possible tornado expected to hit the state’s northwest.

Sky News meteorologist Alison Osborne said the storm was forecast to sweep Echuca, Swan Hill and Mildura on Thursday afternoon.

“There is the risk of tornadic supercells, that means large hailstones, damaging wind gusts and isolated heavy rainfall,” she said.

“That storm threat will rapidly ease into the early hours of Friday morning.

“It becomes less intense but more broad.”

Ms Osborne said the dangerous threat could last for a couple of hours.

Damaging winds of more than 90km/h are expected in some areas, which could pull down trees and powerlines.

⚠️ #Flood Watch issued for northern & parts of southern #Victoria. Minor to moderate #flooding possible from Friday. Major possible in parts of the north east. Keep up to date in the coming days at https://t.co/zQk6fgvnx0 ; follow advice from @vicemergency#[e-mail]/07fXblb4B9

— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) October 5, 2022

The extreme weather is due to a low-pressure system tracking across Australia, dragging tropical moisture down to Victoria.

Daily rainfall totals of 30mm to 50mm have renewed flood risks at the Murray River with minor flood warnings in place for Loddon, Snowy and Kiewa Rivers.

The Victoria State Emergency Service said on Wednesday they had received more than 90 requests for assistance statewide with the number expected to rise over the next few days.

Majority of calls were for fallen trees, flood impacts and building damage.

Melbourne will be battered with 15mm of rain and thunderstorms on Friday but it’s expected to ease in the afternoon in time for the weekend.

Originally published as Victorians warned of a possible tornado to hit state’s northwest