Victoria's farmers expected to benefit from a burst of tropical Queensland

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron says unstable conditions are predicted for much of the north-west, on Saturday and Sunday.

"It'll be quite late in the day when we see some rain and thunderstorm activity, into the Mallee and Wimmera," Mr Efron said.

"We are looking at the Mallee, throughout the afternoon on Saturday, and then throughout the rest of the evening we will see that spreading south-east to affect the Wimmera, northern country and north-central districts

"By the early hours of Sunday we are looking a10-20mm in the region

"But given the amount of tropical moisture, coming down from the north, we could see some locally higher falls of up to 30-40mm, in parts of the north-west."

The rest of the state would experience an unsettled weekend, with only small rainfall totals predicted.

"its a combination of a low pressure system, over Western Australia, combining with a high over the Tasman Sea, directing that warm tropical air, from Queensland."

Mr Efron said it was uncommon to see such a combination affect Victoria.

"Typically we don't see that trajectory of air, coming down towards Victoria, from Queensland," he said.

"We have the combination of that warmth, the tropical moisture, and that low pressure system acting as a trigger to really develop that activity on Saturday evening and into Sunday."

Next week would see a front crossing Victoria, bringing showers, thunderstorms, hail and snow.

"These conditions are really quite typical for spring, a bit of everything, some tropical air, but then some really cold air, arriving next week," Mr Efron said.

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