A strong cold front will bring damaging winds and areas of heavy rain to Victoria on Thursday. Strong and gusty winds will spread from the west in the early hours of Thursday morning, reaching eastern parts of the state by the late morning. For districts such as West and South Gippsland, the North East, South West, Central and East Gippsland, including Melbourne, wind gusts will peak at 90-100km/h. Wind gusts could exceed 110km/h about the Alps. These winds are strong enough to bring down trees and powerlines. Further north in the Mallee and Northern Country, winds won't get quite as strong however wind gusts to 70-80km/h are still possible. For many parts of the state, winds will peak during the mid-morning until about the mid-afternoon, before easing into the evening. The front will also bring some decent soaking rain to large areas of the state. Widespread falls of 5-10mm are likely, although in the south falls of 20 to 40mm will be the norm. The system will also be associated with isolated thunderstorms, which could bring intense local falls up to 50mm. This has prompted Flood Watches for many parts of the south and east. Places near the New South Wales border will see the least rain, with less than 5mm likely. Conditions will ease late on Thursday as the front surges east, however another front will sweep over the state later on Friday and into Saturday, bringing another burst of wind and showers.