Severe thunderstorms hit Victoria, leaving over 40,000 homes and businesses without power and causing significant disruptions at Melbourne Airport. The wild weather, which included large hail and heavy rainfall, led to flight delays and widespread power outages.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) issued a severe thunderstorm warning for several areas including Bendigo, Maryborough, Castlemaine, and greater Melbourne.
While the warning for greater Melbourne was lifted in the evening, BoM continued to monitor conditions in northern and central Victoria and other regions. The thunderstorms caused significant damage, including wind gusts up to 104 km/h in Wangaratta and heavy rainfall totaling up to 54mm in Coldstream.
Over 40,000 homes lose power as severe thunderstorms disrupt Melbourne and surrounding areas.By Tuesday evening, around 19,000 power customers in central and western Victoria remained without electricity due to downed trees and network damage.
Powercor, serving 1.2 million homes and businesses, reported over 200 faults and extensive lightning impact. Areas such as Ballarat, Castlemaine, Bendigo, and parts of Melbourne were among the hardest hit. AusNet also reported close to 20,000 outages in the eastern and northern regions.
Melbourne Airport faced more than an hour of halted ground operations due to lightning, causing widespread flight delays. Passengers experienced difficulties boarding and disembarking, and ground crews could not handle baggage or aerobridges.
While some flights managed to land, delays were expected to continue. Trains on the Craigieburn line were replaced by buses due to lightning strikes affecting equipment.
BoM meteorologist Miriam Bradbury warned that severe thunderstorms would likely continue into Wednesday, primarily affecting eastern Victoria and southeastern NSW. Heavier rainfall is expected to move up the NSW coast with ongoing storm risks.