Significant rain set to ease fires in eastern Victoria

03/10/2023

A strong cold front impacting Victoria today may help ease fire conditions in eastern parts of the state.

Currently, there are several fires burning at Emergency Warning level through Gippsland and Flinders Island in Tasmania and some locations in Gippsland have been placed under evacuation orders.

Due to the incoming rain and cooler temperatures across eastern Victoria, many of the ongoing fires have the potential to be extinguished. The cold front moving across today will bring moderate to heavy rainfall and isolated thunderstorms and damaging winds to central and eastern parts of the state.

A Severe Weather Warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall is current for parts of central and eastern Victoria.

Wind gusts have reached over 100km/h this morning in parts of Victoria, including 104km/h at Laverton, west of Melbourne.

A Flood Watch is current for eastern Victoria for minor to moderate flooding likely from late Tuesday into Wednesday, with isolated major flooding possible in some northeast and Gippsland catchments from Wednesday.

The most significant rainfall totals are expected for Gippsland, where totals may exceed 150mm in some places. Other parts of Victoria could see rainfall totals over 50mm.

Over the next 24 hours, a low pressure system will develop near the Victorian and New South Wales border, amplifying widespread rain, thunderstorms, large swell and damaging winds.

These conditions will ease across Victoria during Thursday with cooler temperatures lingering into the weekend.

Know your weather. Know your risk. Follow emergency services advice and stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via www.bom.gov.au or the BOM Weather app.