Melbourne weather: 'Destructive' winds set to batter the state
Destructive winds are set to batter the state as the weekend gets off to a wild start.
Winds whipped Mount William in the Grampians into a frenzy on Friday morning, with gusts of 111km/h recorded by 2am. Melbourne Airport was also blustery, with winds hitting 87km/h just before 4.30am.
A severe weather warning for destructive and damaging winds across Victoria was issued overnight, with gusts over 125km/h expected in the elevated Alpine regions. Melbourne is expected to cop 100km/h peaks with average gusts of 60 to 70km/h.
"We've had a number of warnings out over the last couple of weeks but this one is probably the strongest front we've seen," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said.
"It's not often you see destructive winds, and the winds with this one are more widespread and longer lasting than previous fronts."
Despite the extreme conditions, it was business as usual at Melbourne Airport on Friday morning, with flights running as scheduled.
The full force of the system is expected to rattle the state from 10am until 3pm on Friday.
The State Emergency Service is urging people to take safety precautions, including moving cars from under trees, securing loose personal items and keeping clear of fallen power lines.
The winds are also expected to whip up dust storms across the state, particularly in the afternoon.
But once the wind has eased, get ready for rain.
Showers are expected to begin on Friday night and stick around throughout Saturday. The heaviest rain will hit on Saturday morning and in the afternoon, there will be a chance of thunderstorms and hail. The rain is then expected to ease to possible showers on Sunday.
The weekend will also bring a dip in temperatures to 13 degrees after a mild 19 degrees on Friday.
The new bout of severe conditions comes after the Bureau's Melbourne Airport weather station recorded its windiest July in 20 years.
"It has been notable. We've had a really dry winter so far and we've had very much below average rainfall and above average winds," senior forecaster Michael Efron said.
The average Melbourne rainfall for July is around 45 millimetres, but last month's total only reached 19.4 millimetres.