Heavy rain, strong winds set to hit Greater Geelong, Surf Coast
Locals had to whip out their umbrellas and raincoats on Wednesday as light to moderate showers continuously fell from about midday.
Geelong
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Summer may start on Friday, but dreary weather hit Geelong on Wednesday as rain and strong winds lashed the region.
Locals had to whip out their umbrellas and raincoats as light to moderation rain continuously fell from about midday.
Weather bureau senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said there was “quite a bit of activity” on the rain radar on Wednesday afternoon, with showers travelling westerly across the region.
Geelong received about 4.2mm of rain since 9am Wednesday, despite 20 to 40mm initially forecast.
On the Surf Coast and along the Bellarine Peninsula, 5mm of rain had fallen since 9am.
Warnings were in place for minor to moderate flooding for the Barwon, Leigh and Moorabool rivers.
“River level rises are expected and minor flooding is possible for the catchments,” the warning said.
Homes in Armstrong Creek, Barwon Heads and Mount Duneed were left in the dark on Wednesday afternoon and power was not expected to be restored until after 8pm.
Properties in Drysdale and Belmont were also without electricity.
SES Barwon unit responded to more than 10 calls for assistance for trees down and flooding into properties, while the Bellarine unit responded to several calls.
Emergency crews removed a fallen tree on Draper St in Ocean Grove on Wednesday morning, with a branch smashing into a fence.
Ms Bradbury said the rain would ease on Thursday with only about 5 to 10mm expected.
“We are hoping to see some patchy sunshine on Saturday and Sunday as the temperature picks up over the weekend,” she said.
Conditions will be mild on Saturday night at Carols by the Bay, with temperatures set to hit 17C.
The mercury will warm up again on Sunday, with a top of 22C before temperatures hit the high 20s early next week.
Ms Bradbury said rain heading into summer was not “unusual”.
“Summer is when we see the most intense thunderstorms because the atmosphere is warmer so there is more potential for storm events,” she said.
“It has been a pretty dry September and October.
“November and into December is often when we see storms developing.”
It comes after the region was hit with heavy rain on Saturday afternoon with streets in Torquay and Mount Duneed flooding
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Originally published as Heavy rain, strong winds set to hit Greater Geelong, Surf Coast
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