From Gippsland to the Great Ocean Road, record-breaking spring rains have left Victoria soggy, but warmer relief is on the way later this week.
The Mount Cowley weather station, about 10 kilometres west of Lorne, recorded the highest rainfall total across the state when 192 millimetres of rain fell across 72 hours to 9am on Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Cowwarr Weir, which sits just south of the Victorian Alps, received 185 millimetres of rain over three days, while the Gippsland town of Briagolong recorded 182 millimetres – an October record for the highest 72-hour rainfall total in the town’s history.
Lakes Entrance, Horsham and Mt Baw Baw all exceeded their highest single-day rainfall total in October on Saturday.
VicEmergency warned residents it was “dangerous” to walk or drive through floodwater from the Thompson River at Wandocka in Gippsland. The warning remained at watch-and-act level due to the potential of major flooding.
After Melbourne recorded its wettest day in two years on Thursday, a more modest rainfall of 11 millimetres fell across Saturday.
Bureau meteorologist Urshla Connor said the big downpours had caused riverbanks to swell, and plenty of “local flash flooding and water across roads” all over Victoria.
“The heavy rain was driven by a low-pressure system which was carrying tropical moisture and was then wrapped up in a southerly flow of air, causing a lot of rain to fall across the state on Friday and Saturday,” she said.
“There were records broken, it was pretty significant, but we do tend to see decent rainfall events through spring across Victoria so it’s not unprecedented.”
Victoria is shaping up for a relatively dry conditions Monday, with a forecast top of 19 degrees in Melbourne.
Another cold front will move across parts of the state on Tuesday bringing some isolated showers, before temperatures heat up at the end of the week, peaking at 27 degrees in the city on Friday.
After a wet and wild weekend, Lorne will reach a temperature of 24 degrees on Friday.
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