Parts of Victoria received more rain in 15 minutes than the entire first four months of the year and a tornado-like event flattened a lakeside caravan park as overnight storms swept western and central Victoria on Thursday.
Mildura's total rainfall from January 1 to the start of May was 10.4 millimetres. In the 14 minutes after 9.15am on Thursday, 15.6mm poured down on the river town.
Stawell received the heaviest falls, with 68.6mm of rain overnight. It was more than double the 30.2mm of rain the north-western town had received since January, in what was its driest start to the year since 1996.
The wild weather wreaked havoc in parts, with meteorologists trying to determine if a severe storm which flattened a caravan park in the south-west was a tornado.
Cabins were blown over and boats tossed around when the storm hit the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park about 10.30pm on Wednesday.
Camperdown SES controller Colin Brian described the damage as the worst he had seen in more than 25 years as a first responder.
"Some of the cabins are just floors and a couple of walls now," he said.
"It was like a mini-tornado went through."
Camperdown Police Senior Sergeant Bill Caldow estimated the damage at about $1 million and said it was concentrated on a small area around the caravan park.
Senior forecaster Rod Dickson said the Bureau of Meteorology was looking into the storm, adding tornadoes were "more common than people think".
Much of western Victoria received between 25mm and 40mm, while areas to the north of the capital also received heavy falls.
Daylesford had a total 45mm of rain, Trentham Reservoir 41mm, and Bullarto 40mm through to 9.30am.
Closer to Melbourne, totals were generally under 10mm, with heavier falls in the south-eastern suburbs between 10mm and 15mm.
Duty forecaster Miriam Bradbury said on Thursday morning the rain was moving through the north of the state.
Mt Wombat received 55mm by 9.30am and there could be more to come.
"But the main focus is the north east, where we could see heavy rainfall ramping up late this afternoon and into the evening," she said.
"We're forecasting some pretty high totals, between 30mm to 70mm for parts of north-east, with isolated falls of 100mm, mainly around the peaks."
HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS TO 8AM THURSDAY
- 68mm at Stawell
- 53mm at Westmere
- 49mm at Mt Wombat
- 45mm at Mt Hope
- 43mm at Gerangamete
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