Several cold fronts, coupled with a low pressure system, has brought useful rainfall to much of southern Victoria.
Gippsland benefited from the falls earlier this week, with Bullumwaal, north of Bairnsdale, recording 118millimetres of rain and Reeves Knob 109mm.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster (BoM) Peter Newham said some parts of southern and central Victoria received up to 60millimetres of rain, with falls in the area from Geelong to Macedon reaching up to 100mm, on the weekend.
Some of the better falls were Gisborne, 91mm, Macedon 84m, Ballan, 76mm and Bacchus Marsh 67mm.
The rain band was largely confined to south of the Great Dividing Range, delivered by the passage of several cold fronts and a low pressure system, to the south-east.
“As you went north, it tended to ease,” Mr Newham said.
“Horsham only receive 2.6mm, north of the divide, Mildura had 0.2mm, Wangaratta had 10mm, so there was a bit more in the north and north-east.
Strong winds in the south-west knocked out power in a number of areas.
Carpendeit dairy farmer Donna Edge said she received 50mm, but “the wind started to pick up, the rain started to tumble down and the power poles did too. The rain is wonderful, but it would be nice to have some power,” Ms Edge.
Milking for her 100 strong herd was delayed until a portable generator was brought onto the property.
“We’ve been 15 and a half years here and it’s the worst we’ve ever had – we’ve milked at 10.30 at night, but never had power off for 24 hours.”
In the north, conditions remained dry, apart from a patch around Bagshot, north-east of Bendigo.
At Bagshot, Alister Knight said the cropping property had received 38mm, over the weekend.
“We will be able to work the paddocks and bring them out of pasture, into cropping,” Mr Knight said.
“It helps get a little bit of subsoil moisture into the ground.” He said the rainfall was not consistent across the properties. “A few more fronts, coming through, would be pretty helpful.”