Melbourne weather: Burst of wet and wild weather is sweeping Victoria as severe thunderstorms roll in
Batten down the hatches: A line of severe thunderstorms is rolling into Melbourne with the parts of the state bracing for more than a month's worth of rain.
The bureau has warned Melburnians to brace for torrential rain early on Wednesday evening with parts of the state expected to get a deluge of up to 50 millimetres bringing with it the risk of flash flooding.
A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of Victoria, including Melbourne and Geelong, as the thunderstorms sweep in from western NSW.
Storms have already lashed western Victoria and the eastern ranges causing flash flooding, dust storms and power outages.
The bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning late on Wednesday afternoon for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hail across the central, East Gippsland, northern country, north central regions and parts of the Mallee, south-west, north-east, west and South Gippsland and Wimmera districts.
The warning area also includes Colac, Ballarat, Bendigo, Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton and the High Country.
The weather bureau said it had already received reports of flash flooding at Murrayville in the Mallee region and reports of one school in Ararat being flooded.
The town of Stawell has received nine millimetres in nine minutes, while Longrenong - near Horsham - was drenched with 20 millimetres in 20 minutes.
Wild dust storms have also been reported in Wycheproof in north-west Victoria and Birchip in the Mallee.
"The line of thunderstorms has caused large wind gusts ahead of the storms which has stirred up dust in these areas," senior forecaster Dean Stewart said.
Mr Stewart said the storms were fast approaching Geelong and could hit Melbourne anywhere between about 6.45 and 9pm.
"A mixture of embedded thunderstorms, heavy rain and some localised flash flooding is likely in Melbourne," he said.
"There is chance of heavy rain virtually anywhere in Melbourne tonight, it's impossible to single a zone where the storms might hit."
A road weather warning has also been issued by the bureau with motorists urged to avoid driving where possible and to keep an eye on the radar.
Parts of Melbourne could be drenched by up to 30 millimetres in about an hour.
The average monthly rainfall for February is just under 40 millimetres.
Other areas could get anywhere between five millimetres and 15 millimetres, the bureau said.
The unstable conditions are due to continue overnight and into early Thursday morning.
"Some part of Melbourne may still be affected by further storms after the first line of storms move through," Mr Stewart said.
"At the moment, a low-pressure system is present in the atmosphere so it's conducive we could see more storm activity into Thursday."
Wind gusts of up to 80km/h have already been recorded in Swan Hill as the storms moved in.
But the burst of rain isn't expected over areas where bushfires continue to rage.
There was no significant rain expected where fires still burned, the Country Fire Authority said.
Warnings remain in place for six bushfires across the state including some blazes that have been burning for days at Grantville, south-east of Melbourne, and Hepburn Springs, north-west of the capital.
More than 6200 hectares of land has been burnt in the Thomson Catchment fire, east of Melbourne, with authorities concerned burnt debris has the potential to wash into Thomson Dam and contaminate Melbourne's major drinking water source.
With AAP