Good golly, get your brolly
Rug up and get your umbrella ready because an icy blast is going to bring gale-force winds and up to 25mm of rain to the Geelong region today.
AN icy blast expected in Geelong today could bring wind gusts of up to 90km/h.
Gale-force winds are predicted to hit Geelong and the Surf Coast from about 10am.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said most of the 25mm of rain predicted to fall today would do so before 9am.
“The bulk of the rain will be overnight but the Otways might have 30 to 40mm of rain on Friday,” Mr Efron said.
He said wind gusts of close to 100km/h were expected along the Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula, including at Torquay and Ocean Grove.
The SES has sent a warning to homeowners to clear gutters and stormwater drains to prevent flooding during winter.
A severe weather warning for damaging winds and heavy rainfall has been issued by the weather bureau.
Geelong and the Surf Coast are headed for a top of about 16C today, with some relief from the rain expected on Saturday with only light showers and a top of 17C predicted.
Mr Efron said the maximum temperatures yesterday and today were the coldest the region had seen since September last year.
Rainfall across the state was well below average in April, with just 11.2mm recorded across Geelong.
Mr Efron said the usual April rainfall across the region was about 45mm.
SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch pleaded with motorists to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s carnage, in which eight people died on Victorian roads.
“The heavy rain will bring challenging road conditions so don’t attempt to drive through flood waters — it can take as little as 15cm, the height of a pencil, for a car to float,” he said.
“We really are appealing to Victorians to take it easy ... make sure that you’re alert to your conditions,” he said.