There's been a severe weather warning issued for much of Victoria, although the south-west looks set to miss the worst of it.
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Today across the south-west it will be cloudy with a very high chance of rain and the chance of a thunderstorm.
Winds north to north-easterly 15 to 25 km/h increasing to 30 km/h before turning west to north-westerly 15 to 25 km/h during the morning and early afternoon.
Overnight temperatures fell to around 14 with daytime temperatures reaching the low to mid 20s.
A 7am on Monday, April 1, it was 15.3 degrees in Warrnambool.
Warrnambool is expecting a top of 24 today, Colac 25 and Hamilton 23.
For people in central and eastern parts of south-west, North Central, North East, West and South Gippsland and East Gippsland Forecast Districts there's the chance of heavy rains and damaging winds.
A strengthening cold front moving across the southeast of the country will trigger thunderstorms across the west of the state during the morning.
These thunderstorms will develop into a cloud band during the afternoon and shift east overnight into Tuesday morning as an upper trough drags down moisture from northern Australia, leading to a risk of heavy rainfall.
The heavy rainfall may lead to flash flooding for eastern parts of the the south-west and western parts of the Central district with thunderstorms and areas of rain during the afternoon, shifting into eastern parts of the Central district overnight and into Tuesday morning.
Six-hourly rainfall totals between 30 to 50 mm are likely, with isolated falls of 70 mm possible.
Damaging wind gusts, with peak gusts of around 90 km/h, are possible across the central and north-eastern ranges from this evening.
Heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts are forecast to ease below warning thresholds on Tuesday morning.
Locations which may be affected include Maryborough, Kyneton, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne and Bacchus Marsh.
The State Emergency Service advises that people should:
- If driving conditions are dangerous, safely pull over away from trees, drains, low-lying areas and floodwater. Avoid travel if possible.
- Stay safe by avoiding dangerous hazards, such as floodwater, mud, debris, damaged roads and fallen trees.
- Be aware - heat, fire or recent storms may make trees unstable and more likely to fall when it's windy or wet.
- Check that loose items, such as outdoor settings, umbrellas and trampolines are safely secured. Move vehicles under cover or away from trees.
- Stay indoors and away from windows.
- If outdoors, move to a safe place indoors. Stay away from trees, drains, gutters, creeks and waterways.
- Stay away from fallen powerlines - always assume they are live.
- Be aware that in fire affected areas, rainfall run-off into waterways may contain debris such as ash, soil, trees and rocks. Heavy rainfall may also increase the potential for landslides and debris across roads.
- Stay informed: Monitor weather warnings, forecasts and river levels at the Bureau of Meteorology website, and warnings through VicEmergency website/app/hotline.
