As the ominous clouds rolled in and thunder started to reverberate across the Wimmera on Friday night, residents knew they were in for something big – and Mother Nature did not disappoint.
Flash-flooding, damaging wind gusts and large hailstones lashed the region and it lasted for most of the weekend.
But Stawell missed the brunt of Mother Nature’s fierce outburst, only recording 13 millimeters of rain across the two days, while others areas such as North Avoca and Ballarat received 40mm and 29mm.
Ararat barely had any rain at all, registering just 2mm on Sunday.
The Bureau of Meteorology only received reports for large hailstones in the Serpentine region, while Stawell was also fortunately spared of any severe wind damage.
But the minimal impact did not mean Stawell missed out on an impressive light show.
The night sky came alive with flashes of white followed by the eventual crack of lightening.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Stephen King said hot and humid conditions followed by a trough moving through the area was the trigger for the storm activity.
“They were pretty big in the north western part of the state,” he said.
“Stawell was not hit as hard, but other areas had heavy rainfall, very high wind speeds and hailstones.”
Mr King said the region would receive a “brief break” in the weather on Monday, before hot and moist conditions continued on into Wednesday.
“Thursday you might start to see some storm activity again and then a proper change will come through later in the week,” he said.
