Severe Thunderstorm Warning Issued for Melbourne Area: Intense Rainfall and Flash Flooding Expected
This alert is no longer in effect.
BOM issued it on April 6, 2026, 4 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this BoM weather warning directly from BOM's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a high-priority warning for very dangerous thunderstorms producing intense rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding across Melbourne suburbs.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Severe Thunderstorm Warning
- Affected area
- Melbourne Area, Victoria
- Issued
- April 6, 2026
- Issuing authority
- BOM
Storm notices can cover different combinations of wind, hail, lightning, and rainfall. Use the original notice for the hazards and boundaries attached to this specific record.
Record status: historical. It was issued 4 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Melbourne Area, Victoria.
Alert Details
The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning (IDV21035) for the Melbourne Area. This high-priority alert is specifically for intense rainfall and is classified as a major warning group type. The warning was issued at 2:33 pm Tuesday, 24 February 2026.
Affected Areas
The warning affects people in parts of the following Local Warning Areas:
- Inner East
- Inner
- Northern
- Outer East
- Western
Specific suburbs in the path of the storm include Craigieburn, Warburton, Preston, Coburg, Mill Park, Greensborough, Whittlesea, and Doncaster.
What You Should Do
The State Emergency Service (SES) advises residents in the warning area to take the following actions:
- Avoid Travel: If driving conditions are dangerous, safely pull over away from trees, drains, low-lying areas, and floodwater. Avoid travel if possible.
- Seek Shelter: Stay indoors and away from windows. If caught outdoors, move to a safe place indoors and stay away from trees, drains, gutters, creeks, and waterways.
- Secure Property: Check that loose items such as outdoor settings, umbrellas, and trampolines are safely secured. Move vehicles under cover or away from trees.
- Hazard Awareness: Stay away from fallen powerlines and assume they are live. Be aware that recent storms, heat, or fire may make trees unstable and more likely to fall.
- Monitor Conditions: Stay informed by monitoring weather warnings and river levels through the Bureau of Meteorology and VicEmergency platforms.
Expected Conditions
Very dangerous thunderstorms are producing intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding. At 2:30 pm, these storms were detected near Craigieburn and Warburton, moving toward the southeast. Significant rainfall has already been observed, with 38.4 mm recorded at Spring Hill in the 1 hour and 15 minutes leading up to 2:00 pm.
Timeline
The warning was issued at 2:33 pm on Tuesday, 24 February 2026. The storms are forecast to affect Preston, Coburg, and Mill Park by 2:45 pm, and Greensborough, Whittlesea, and Doncaster by 3:00 pm. The next update from the Bureau of Meteorology is due to be issued by 3:05 pm.
Original source: BOM Official Notice ↗
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