Victoria
Victoria severe weather & warning links.
Use VicEmergency and BOM for Victorian warning information, then open local forecasts and radar for Melbourne, regional centres and the coast.
Current Bureau of Meteorology warnings for Victoria
1 current warning listed by the Bureau of Meteorology.
| Type | Warning | Issued |
|---|---|---|
| Severe thunderstorm | Cancellation of Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Mallee and Northern Country Forecast Districts. |
Warning titles and issue times from the Bureau of Meteorology's public warnings feed, © Commonwealth of Australia (terms), shown with links only: read each warning on the Bureau's site. Checked every 10 minutes; last received . Atmosphr is not affiliated with the Bureau.
Victorian flood watches and warnings
No flood watches, flood warnings or flooding incidents are listed by VicEmergency in Victoria, as of . See every Victorian flood watch and warning →
In a life-threatening emergency call 000. For flood or storm help call the VicSES on 132 500. Never drive, ride or walk through floodwater. VicEmergency Hotline: 1800 226 226.
Source: VicEmergency, © State of Victoria, Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU).
Official information first
The flood summary above lists current VicEmergency flood watches, warnings and incidents by name and time, each linked to the official warning. For every other hazard this page is a directory. Open BOM to check the current warning area and issue time, and VicEmergency for local information. Atmosphr does not issue warnings or reproduce official warning advice.
Victorian weather hazards and when they occur
Victoria’s deadliest weather days have usually combined heat, dry fuel and strong, changing winds. Storms and flash flooding are the other hazards VICSES and the CFA plan around every year.
| Hazard | Typical season | Where in the state | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | The CFA declares a Fire Danger Period for each municipality, as early as October in some areas and sometimes lasting until May | Grassland and forest statewide | CFA: Fire Danger Period, VicEmergency |
| Wind change on hot days | Fire season | Statewide. On Black Saturday, gusts above 100 km/h changed direction late in the day and caused unpredictable fire paths. | AIDR Knowledge Hub: Black Saturday, Victoria 2009 |
| Severe storms and flash flooding | Most thunderstorms form from September to March; flash flooding can happen quickly and without an official warning | Melbourne and regional Victoria | VICSES: storms, VICSES: floods |
| East coast lows | More often in autumn and winter | Eastern Victoria | BOM: east coast lows |
| Thunderstorm asthma | Storms when grass pollen counts are high; the 2016 event was on 21 November | Melbourne and surrounds | AIDR Knowledge Hub: thunderstorm asthma, Victoria 2016 |
Victorian events worth knowing
- Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983. Heatwave conditions, low humidity and strong to gale-force winds followed ten months of drought. In Victoria 47 people died and 1,620 houses were destroyed; across Victoria and South Australia 75 people died.
- Black Saturday, 7 February 2009. Melbourne reached 46 °C after a severe heatwave. Almost 400 fires burned across the state, 173 people died and more than 450,000 hectares burned.
- Thunderstorm asthma, 21 November 2016. A storm gust front crossed Melbourne at about 5 pm on a hot day with a high pollen count. The Victorian health department attributed nine deaths to the event.
Official Victorian channels
- VicEmergency: warnings through the VicEmergency app, website and hotline (1800 226 226).
- VICSES: call 132 500 for emergency assistance in floods and storms, and 000 if life is at risk.
- Fire: the CFA sets Fire Danger Period restrictions by municipality.
- Warning levels: emergency services use the Australian Warning System. the Queensland Government’s explanation of the national system sets out the three levels: Advice (yellow), meaning an incident has started with no immediate danger; Watch and Act (orange), a heightened threat where you should start taking action; and Emergency Warning (red), the highest level, where you may be in danger and need to act immediately.
- Fire danger: since 1 September 2022 Australia has used the Australian Fire Danger Rating System. Its four levels are Moderate (plan and prepare), High (prepare to act), Extreme (take action now to protect your life and property) and Catastrophic (for your survival, leave bush fire risk areas).
Using Atmosphr in Victoria
Victoria is on UTC+10 and observes daylight saving from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April. On hot days, look at the hourly wind direction and speed as well as the maximum temperature: the timing of a forecast wind change matters more than the day’s headline number. Browse the Victorian forecast hub for regional places. Atmosphr shows Open-Meteo model forecasts and RainViewer radar frames from the recent past. It does not issue warnings, and a quiet map is not an all-clear. For fire, flood and storm decisions, VicEmergency is the place to look.
Match the view to the Victorian trip or worksite
Use Melbourne for the metropolitan starting point and Geelong for a separate view toward Corio Bay. Pan the radar to see surrounding echoes, then check the time of the latest frame before comparing it with a forecast.
For a regional itinerary, keep Ballarat, Bendigo and Mildura as separate checks. Do not read the capital-city temperature as a statewide summary or assume one rain forecast covers every stop.
For a coastal visit around Warrnambool, check the coastal forecast and official marine information as well as land weather. For mountain trips, look up the actual destination and official alpine information rather than relying on these town shortcuts.
Local forecasts and rain radar
| Location | Model weather | Recent radar |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne | Melbourne 7-day forecast | Melbourne radar |
| Geelong | Geelong 7-day forecast | Geelong radar |
| Ballarat | Ballarat 7-day forecast | Ballarat radar |
| Bendigo | Bendigo 7-day forecast | Bendigo radar |
| Mildura | Mildura 7-day forecast | Mildura radar |
| Warrnambool | Warrnambool 7-day forecast | Warrnambool radar |
Today’s forecast for Victoria towns. Each forecast link opens that town’s 7-day forecast page. The radar link opens recent RainViewer composite imagery, including an old BOM-style layout. It is not a station-specific BOM product.
Search another town or suburb · Understand radar coverage and colour
Plan an activity
Sources and further reading
- BOM warnings and alerts
- VicEmergency
- CFA: Fire Danger Period
- VICSES: storms
- VICSES: floods
- BOM: east coast lows
- Australian Fire Danger Rating System
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: Ash Wednesday, Victoria and South Australia 1983
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: Black Saturday, Victoria 2009
- AIDR Knowledge Hub: thunderstorm asthma, Victoria 2016
- Tourism Australia: Australian time zones