Warm weather is struggling to launch in Melbourne as heavy rainfall continues during the city’s longest November cold spell in decades.
The temperature has failed to top 20 degrees since Friday, despite reaching 30 degrees earlier that week.
It will stay in the teens until cloud clears on Saturday.
Melbourne has not had a run of eight days below 20 degrees in November since 1989, according to the weather bureau.
Senior forecaster Phil King said some Melbourne suburbs had been dumped with their entire average November rainfall in the past two days.
“It’s probably starting to frustrate people because we had quite a promising start to the month with warm conditions,” he said.
“But now there is this extended period of cooler conditions … a spell below average.”
Lyndhurst, in Melbourne’s east, had almost 79 mm of heavy rainfall in 48 hours, while Arthurs Seat on the Mornington Peninsula had 63mm.
“We’re running 8-10 degrees below average for this time of year … falls are well above 50mm in the east and it’s still raining pretty solidly,” Mr King said.
A low-pressure system that has descended down the NSW coast and settled around Wilsons Promontory is causing rain and cold, southerly winds mainly across Gippsland and Melbourne’s south-east.
Rain will continue until Friday, but is expected to ease slightly by Thursday afternoon.
The temperature will slowly climb in coming days, until reaching a warmer 28 degrees on Monday.
But even with summer coming closer, it’s not boardshorts weather yet, warns the weather bureau, with a similar cold stretch forecast from mid-week, too.
“Once another change moves in, we’ll be back into the late teens again,” Mr King said.
A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said there had been minor flooding in parts of Gippsland on Wednesday.
“Eastern Victoria has been the hardest hit,” she said.
There had also been water over some roads in Gippsland but none had to be closed.
“The crews have been able to deal with it themselves, but it is a good reminder for people not to drive through flood water.”
