Melbourne heads for wettest year on record as snow blankets ski resorts
Melbourne is on course to record its wettest year in 165 years as unseasonably low temperatures bring snow to ski resorts.
More rain has fallen on the city in the first four months of the year than in the whole of last year, bringing much-needed relief to parched farmland on the outskirts.
Snow in Mount Buller on Thursday.Credit:rvv.com.au
About 401 millimetres of rain had been recorded as of Thursday morning, the highest end-of-April total since 1924, when almost 410 millimetres fell before May.
In 1924 very little rain fell in the month of May; this year, heavy rain is forecast in the first week of the month, meaning 2020 will probably edge ahead as the wettest since records began in 1855.
Melbourne was tipped to mark its coldest April day since 1996 on Thursday, with a forecast high of 12 degrees, but it has been warmer than expected and the mercury is set to reach 15 degrees.
Heavy rain will again lash the state on Friday and the temperature is forecast to drop to a high of 12 degrees, which would make it only the third time in recorded history the temperature has dipped below 12 degrees on May 1.
Up to half a metre of snow will blanket deserted ski lodges in the alpine regions as temperatures dip to -2 degrees and snow falls as low as 800 metres. Mt Buller had more than 100 millimetres of rain over the past 36 hours.
On Wednesday Melbourne was belted with rain that caused flash flooding and felled trees.
The State Emergency Service responded to more than 280 callouts, including a camper near Wangaratta who woke up to find themselves trapped on a patch of land surrounded by flooding. A boat was required to rescue the camper.
About 125 calls related to fallen trees, while about 70 concerned flooding and another 70 building damage.
A sinkhole emerged in Kew on Wednesday.
Outside Melbourne, Numurkah, Benalla and Shepparton were the busiest spots for the SES.
About 25 millimetres of rain fell on Melbourne CBD on Wednesday, while about 40 millimetres fell in the eastern suburbs from Springvale to the Dandenongs. The western suburbs experienced lighter downpours of about 20 millimetres.
The rain caused a sinkhole to open in a park in the inner-east suburb of Kew. A pipe used for stormwater access broke and created a hole 12 metres wide and five metres deep.
Wednesday's highest wind gust was 124km/h at Falls Creek, while closer to the city Frankston recorded 65km/h.
The rain hit South Yarra on Wednesday afternoon.Credit:Eddie Jim
The chilly conditions forecast for Friday, when westerly winds will make it feel colder than 10 degrees, will coincide with 25-30 millimetres of rain in the eastern suburbs and less than 10 millimetres in the west.
"It's going to be a cold and unpleasant day," said Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Chris Arvier.