Ben Domensino, 14 Feb 2013, 11:39 PM UTC
Stormy night for Victoria
Parts of Victoria received their heaviest rain in a year as storms
erupted across the state on Thursday night.
Lightning lit up skies across most of the state from yesterday
afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Friday morning in the
Wimmera and southern Mallee.
The heaviest rain fell on the North East ranges, where Harris Lane
recorded 48mm. Further west, Ballarat Airport received 32mm, their
heaviest rain in a year. Other notable totals included Longerenong
(20mm) and Horsham (17mm), which both saw their heaviest rain since
June.
Some of the storms became slow moving, causing heavy downpours.
Horsham was soaked with 6mm of rain in just 10 minutes shortly before
midnight, while Ballarat received almost 28mm in half an hour to 5pm.
Lightning became frequent in the Wimmera shortly after dinner time,
with 16,700 strikes recorded withing 100km of Horsham.
The storms were triggered by a low pressure trough positioned across
the state, which was fed by moist northeasterly winds flowing off the
Tasman Sea.
The trough will remain positioned over Victoria today, causing more
storms to develop from late morning into the evening. Storms are
likely to affect the North East ranges and central and western areas
of the state.
Rain and storms become less likely into the weekend as drier and
warmer northerly winds develop ahead of another approaching trough.
Note to media: You are welcome to republish text from the above news article as direct quotes from Weatherzone. When doing so, please reference www.weatherzone.com.au in the credit.