The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for parts of Victoria, predicting strong easterly winds and moderate to major flooding in some Gippsland river catchments.
But BoM senior forecaster Michael Efron said the weather system would also provide much needed rain for the north-west, after the dry June and July.
The strong easterly winds would come from a low-pressure system, over central NSW, which was moving south.
The low was expected to be centred over north-west Victoria, later on Friday.
Mr Efron said damaging south-easterlies, averaging 50-70 kilometres per hour, were developing over the Alpine areas.
"We could see gusts in those areas up around 90kph," Mr Efron said.
"Vegetation in Victoria is accustomed to westerly winds, so if we do get strong winds, from the east, they can actually cause problems in terms of topping trees," he said.
Mr Efron said the problem was exacerbated by the rainfall southern parts of Victoria had experienced in recent months.
Mr Efron said the system would also bring welcome falls, of about 20-40mm, in the north-west.
Another system was expected to approach the state, late on Tuesday.
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BoM senior hydrologist, Karen Hudson, said a flood watch had been issued for the Gippsland and Upper Murray catchments, for the weekend.
"There is the potential for moderate to major flooding in the Snowy, Bemm, Cann and Genoa river catchments," Ms Hudson said.
"We expect flooding to start developing from Saturday afternoon onwards."
Ms Hudson said the BoM was keeping a close eye on how much rain was falling in the catchments, given there had been good falls in recent weeks.
It was also aware of the impact of bushfires in the area.
"There is potential for runoff to be a bit faster initially - we need to keep an eye on that, and there is potential for debris to run into the rivers."
The lower reaches of the rivers may not see peaks until Sunday or Monday.
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