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Parts of Melbourne’s outskirts were dusted with snow as a wintry blast hit the state on Thursday.
There were reports of snow in Montrose, near Mount Dandenong, and in Woodend, near the Macedon ranges.
Around Victoria, snow has been reported in the Yarra Valley, Trentham and in the Otways.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Chris Godfred said snow could fall as low as 600 metres.
Snowing in Trentham pic.twitter.com/DnSO5RDRGS
— Peter Young (@PeterYoung1952) July 17, 2014
“Certainly any high point such as Mount Dandenong would be a chance and other areas such as Mount Macedon I think would certainly be a candidate too,” he said.
“It could be cold enough for snow to settle on the ground in some areas but I wouldn’t predict it would be of any significant depth.”
Snow could also fall in Ballarat, Mr Godfred said.
By midday, there had been reports of snow falling in the Yarra Valley and at Lavers Hill, about 50 kilometres inland from Apollo Bay, in the state’s south-west.
Snow was also reported in nearby Beech Forest, also in the Otways.
Beech Forest resident Gwynneth Cowley said there had been rain, sleet and hail in the area on Thursday, and that it was nice to get a bit of snow.
“It’s just been freezing up here, so a bit of snow is good compensation,” she said.
It is also snowing in Trentham, about 90 kilometres north-west of Melbourne.
Meanwhile, residents in Melbourne have been warned to brace for possible hail, thunderstorms and damaging winds forecast for the late morning and early afternoon.
The speed limit on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge has been reduced to 60km/h due to the high winds.
“We currently have a severe weather warning and that’s for damaging gusts up to 100km/h,” Mr Godfred said.
The warning is also in place for the central, south west, and south Gippsland areas.
Sheep graziers across the state have also been warned that cold temperatures, showers and southwesterly winds could lead to lamb deaths.
A top of 12 degrees is forecast for Melbourne on Thursday, which is expected to rise to 15 degrees on the weekend.
In Victoria’s alpine region, 15 centimetres of snow has fallen on Mount Hotham in the past 24 hours, 12 centimetres on Falls Creek and nine centimetres at Mount Buller.
Snowing in #Woodend. Mount Macedon has disappeared in the flurry pic.twitter.com/jCJtLBe8vt
— Andrea Matthews (@andreamatthews) July 17, 2014
