Winds to keep lashing Victoria
It's time to batten down the hatches with damaging winds expected to sweep Victoria as a cold front continues to move in from South Australia.
The Bureau of Meteorology is due to issue severe weather warnings for parts of Central, East Gippsland, South West, North Central, North East and West and South Gippsland districts on Thursday.
Gusty northwesterly winds up to 70km/h are expected in Melbourne throughout the day while damaging winds averaging up to 100km/h are forecast in elevated areas including the Alpine region.
A gale warning is in place for the West and Central coasts while a strong wind warning has been issued for Port Phillip, Western Port, Central Gippsland and East Gippsland coasts on Thursday.
"It is nothing out of the ordinary. Mainly elevated parts of the state will see peak winds. It will not be too different to today," senior forecaster Rod Dickson said on Wednesday night.
Melbourne is expected to reach a top of 16 degrees with up to 8mm of rain on Thursday.
But the worst is to come.
The Alpine region is expected to get up to 40cm of snow on Friday and Saturday.
"Saturday could have some hail and local thunderstorms, a cold wintry day across the state," Mr Dickson said.
"The temperature will be in the low teens over the weekend but it will feel colder, in the single digits."