Severe weather warning issued for south western Victoria

Senior meteorologist Chris Arvier said damaging winds were expected, with the strongest winds likely to hit this afternoon.

"We have a cold front crossing Victoria today bringing strong winds, rainfall, and a risk of thunderstorms across a lot of the state," he said.

"We're likely to see peak winds gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour, particularly about coastal parts of the south west or elevated terrain."

The wind was likely to peak around mid afternoon and decrease by the evening, he said.

He said rain was moving across the state as well, with about 5mm recorded already in many areas.

"That rain will be continuing during the day today," he said.

"In terms of the totals, we're probably looking at around 10 to 20mm for the south west and north east ranges and around 5 to 10mm for other locations."

Very heavy rainfall was expected to hit Gippsland on Tuesday, he said.

"At this stage it looks like we'll be seeing widespread falls of 40 to 70mm but isolated heavy totals of 100mm or more, particularly in the very far east of Gippsland and also the southern slopes of the ranges," he said.

"This rain is likely to be falling throughout the day on Tuesday and may extend into parts of West Gippsland and the Otway Ranges as well."

A flood watch has been issued for most Gippsland catchments.

"Minor flooding is quite possible throughout the day on Tuesday," he said.

Conditions were likely to ease by Wednesday, he said.

"By Wednesday we're expecting a mostly sunny day across the state, relatively cool though, particularly in the morning - we're likely to have a little bit of a frosty morning."