Wild weather will put a dampener on Victoria’s start to summer with heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail all forecast for the weekend.
The State Emergency Service fielded almost 220 calls for help overnight, but Thursday’s weather is expected to provide a lull before storms roll in again.
Victoria is due to be battered by more severe thunderstorms on the first weekend of summer.Credit: Joe Armao
Of the calls for help, 74 were for building damage, 63 were for downed trees and 54 were for flooding. Whitehorse in Melbourne’s east was the busiest area for volunteers.
Harrietville and Falls Creek, both in Victoria’s north-east, recorded more than 54 millimetres of rain on Wednesday.
Instability is expected to linger in Gippsland on Thursday with possible thunderstorms. Strong winds are forecast along Victoria’s coastline, moving from west to east as the day goes on.
The humidity from earlier in the week has eased off, but will still be keenly felt in East Gippsland and the south-west, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Morgan Pumpa said.
Bairnsdale in East Gippsland is forecast to reach a top of 24 degrees on Thursday with a chance of showers and a thunderstorm, while Warrnambool in the south-west is forecast to reach 21 degrees with a slight chance of showers.
Melbourne is forecast to reach a top of 24 degrees on Thursday, also with a slight chance of showers.
“[Friday is] still quite settled, but we start to see again a return of some instability ahead of more of the activity on Saturday,” Pumpa said.
“It does seem like the areas along the ranges and to the north are going to be quite a focus for us [on Saturday].”
Thunderstorms and heavy rain in the north-east and along NSW and Victoria border communities could be a concern on Friday, Pumpa said. Thunderstorms are also forecast for Melbourne on Friday, but would not be like those on Wednesday.
The bureau is focused on areas including the northern country, north-central, Wimmera and Mallee for Saturday, Pumpa said.
Storms were possible across the entire state on Saturday, Pumpa said, but greater Melbourne could escape the worst of them. Heavy rainfall – up to 30 millimetres – is predicted for the city.
The bureau also warned Victorians to watch for river rises and flash flooding.
“We will be looking at all three phenomena, which is the heavy rainfall, damaging winds and then also large hail [on Saturday],” Pumpa said.
A flood warning was downgraded for the Mitta Mitta River at Tallandoon in the state’s north-east on Thursday.
Shepparton and the Wimmera are both forecast to reach a top of 31 degrees on Friday and 25 degrees on Saturday.
Our Breaking News Alert will notify you of significant breaking news when it happens. Get it here.