Temperatures will hover in the high 30s and low 40s for northwest, west, north, northeast and central parts of Victoria on Monday after a sweltering and stormy end to the weekend.
A blaze in the Little Desert National Park, about 375km west of Melbourne, was declared contained but broke away on Sunday afternoon.
Bushfire smoke has spread across Little Desert National Park, west of Horsham, Victoria. (Horsham Incident Control Centre/AAP PHOTOS)
Victorian authorities confirmed they received reports of property losses from a fire near Ouyen, north of the region's national park, on Sunday night.
It is believed two properties have been lost, Premier Jacinta Allan confirmed, as the inferno heads west towards Kaniva-Edenhope Road.
"Our thoughts are with the community around Hattah in the northwest of the state," she told reporters in Melbourne's west on Monday.
State Control Centre spokesman Luke Heagerty said wind blowing in contrasting directions caused the fire to break its containment lines.Â
This Watch & Act - Fire - Monitor Conditions As They Are Changing - is being issued for Goroke, Kaniva, Minimay, Peronne, Morea.— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) The situation can change at any time. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act. More details at: https://t.co/3IkekZdYCx pic.twitter.com/xCEXw14ICjFebruary 2, 2025
"A couple of breakaways have been able to run freely through the national park itself but once it's reached the private property, we've been able to slow it down," he told AAP.
The Little Desert fire covers 84,000 hectares, while dual fires burning in the Grampians total 46,000 hectares.
Additional watch and act orders have been issued for fires in Victoria's southwest, including Apollo Bay, Cape Horn, Hordern Vale and Cape Otway.
"We've had thousands of lightning strikes with storms come through overnight," Mr Heagerty said.Â
This Emergency Warning - Fire - Leave Immediately - is being issued for Mirranatwa.— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous. Emergency services may not be able to help you if you decide to stay. More details at: https://t.co/nPFekAapeD pic.twitter.com/s32hy9azutFebruary 2, 2025
Severe thunderstorms swept across Geelong and Melbourne on Sunday night, bringing heavy rain, lightning, hail and damaging winds.
Power was cut to at least 38,000 homes but fewer than 10,000 were still off the grid as of 10am Monday.
Geelong and Lara to its north were hit particularly hard with flash flooding, downed trees causing property damage and reported hail stones of 2cm to 4cm, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.Â
Some 63mm of rain was recorded at Lara, 52mm at Avalon Airport, 48mm at Clunes and 47mm at Geelong.Â
A lightning strike is believed to have caused a fire at Taylors Lakes in Melbourne's northwest about 1am.
The lightning and thunder across Melbourne lasted from 8pm to 3am.Â
"We're getting a break now, that's all cleared," Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said on Monday.Â
"But we could see further thunderstorms develop through eastern SA and western and central Victoria as we move during the afternoon and evening hours."
The storms are set to give way to blazing sunshine on Monday, with a forecast top of 39C for Melbourne and Bendigo, 38C for Geelong and 36C for Ballarat.
Here is your Monday forecast, — Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) #Victoria:Very hot again today, temps well above average ☀� Severe #heatwave for some areas 🌡�⛈� Isolated showers & gusty storms possible today, mainly in the west this afternoon🌫� Areas of #smoke in the westhttps://t.co/8pJW2pdc8x pic.twitter.com/XlyzKFJKgaFebruary 2, 2025
A cool change is expected to move through South Australia on Tuesday afternoon before crossing into Victoria and Tasmania.Â
It will then be Western Australia's turn for heatwave conditions later in the week.
On Monday, seven out of nine Victorian regions had high fire danger ratings.
37°C