FROM RAYS TO RAIN
Enjoy the sunshine while you can, a monster downpour looks headed our way.
SEVERE weather could lash Geelong from as early as this afternoon as a developing lowpressure system looks set to interact with a tropical cyclone to deliver a month’s worth of rain by the end of the week.
The city is forecast to reach a top of 33C before thunderstorms, potentially bringing damaging winds and heavy rainfall, reach central Victoria.
It will only be a taste of what’s to come with a severe weather warning likely to be issued for tomorrow and Friday, which the Bureau of Meteorology predicts could yield up to a combined 60mm for Geelong and more in the Otways.
Bureau extreme weather forecaster Grace Legge said the low-pressure system spinning up around Victoria was being aided by moisture from the tropics drawn in by ex-cyclone Owen, currently affecting Queensland, running into the cold southern air.
She said significant falls causing flash flooding were possible, while forecasters are also expecting the slow-moving low will kick up strong southerly winds in its wake.
“We’re going to see this low developing on Thursday and that’s when we’ll see more widespread rainfall through the area,” Ms Legge said.
“It’s hard to say where we will see the heavier falls and it will depend on when and where we get those bands of thunderstorms forming, but with the heavier falls we could also see flash flooding.”