Trio of cold fronts pummel Victoria with damaging winds

A trio of cold fronts is lashing Victoria, battering the state with damaging winds ahead of a gloomy weekend.

Victoria is set to be pummelled by a trio of cold fronts, bringing icy rain and severe winds.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a “severe” weather warning on Thursday morning with damaging winds of up to 90km/h set to batter the northern suburbs of Melbourne, central Victoria, the Otways and the Surf Coast.

Wind blasts of up to 110km/h are expected at higher elevations – above 1500m – in the state’s eastern ranges.

Key areas included in the warning include Daylesford, Bacchus Marsh, Yarra Glen, Mt Baw Baw, Mansfield, Dargo and Falls Creek.

The wild weather is expected to last throughout Thursday before moving on early Friday.

Showers are expected to hit Melbourne on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the mercury falling to an overnight low of 7C on Friday and not climbing above 13C on Saturday.

Showers will clear on Sunday – although it will remain overcast – before returning on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The city can expect an overnight low of 5C on Tuesday and a maximum of 13C.

“Three cold fronts are on the way,” Sky News meteorologist Rob Sharpe said.

“The first one lining up for Thursday with a band of rain attached to it, some windy weather ahead of it as well, especially through Victoria, and then into Friday it will cross out through New South Wales.”

Hail is seen covering a Thornbury oval after a storm hit parts of the northern suburbs on Saturday. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Streets were blanketed in a layer of hailstones. Picture: Brendan Beckett

A weaker follow-up will roll in on Saturday, again bringing with it wet weather, before a third cold front will hit Monday and Tuesday, Mr Sharpe said.

“The rain total is pretty substantial,” he said.

Melbourne can expect about 10mm of rain on Thursday, while Mansfield is expected to receive 15mm.

The turbulent conditions have already passed over Western Australia.

It comes after hail caused chaos in Melbourne’s suburbs on Saturday, blanketing footy ovals and roads with hailstones.

That day, a freak lightning bolt struck a tree near Geelong, setting it alight as horrified witnesses looked on.

The Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday warned the nation to brace for a third consecutive year of La Niña, sparking new fears of more flooding for the east coast.

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