Even odds for Melbourne Cup rain

Melbourne's unpredictable weather shows no sign of letting up for the Cup, with forecasters saying there's a 50 per cent chance of rain during the big race.

A man crosses Queen Street Bridge as strong winds hit

Thousands of homes were blacked out when wild winds returned to Victoria after a warm Derby day. (AAP)

After the wettest October in six years, forecasters say there's a 50 per cent chance of rain during the Melbourne Cup.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecasts it'll be 17C and slightly windy on Tuesday, with a weak front moving across the state bringing showers to the metropolitan area during the late morning and early afternoon.

"Really, we're not forecasting a lot of rain, but probably just enough to be annoying," senior meteorologist Tony Bannister said on Monday.

"If you're a betting person there's probably still a 50/50 chance of showers during the big race itself."

Mr Bannister also recommended that anyone looking to go trick-or-treating on Monday evening for Halloween should rug up.

"It's looking like the temperature will be in the mid-teens but it will actually feel like 10C or 11C because of those westerly winds and also there's a chance of a shower," he said.

There'll likely be light winds on Wednesday and Thursday before they strengthen on Friday.

Victoria experienced a "pretty wild October", according to Mr Bannister.

It was the coldest October in 13 years and the wettest in six years.

"If we zero in on Melbourne itself, at the airport it's been the windiest October in 28 years - that's since 1988 - and the windiest month at all since August 2009," Mr Bannister said.

"We had a late blast of winter on Sunday night into Monday morning. We had snow on the alps but also down on the Otways which is uncommon but not unheard of."

Sunday's damaging winds brought down trees around Melbourne and near Warrnambool, blacking out about 3000 homes.

SES spokesman Mark Dorey says about 450 people called for help with the majority on Sunday afternoon.


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Source: AAP


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