Soggy streets, icy winds: Melbourne shivers through spring cold snap

Victorians face below-average spring temperatures and alpine snow flurries before conditions improve ahead of Melbourne Cup Day.

On Sunday, organisers cancelled the Australian MotoGP on Phillip Island after wild weather and poor visibility grounded the medical helicopter, making track conditions unsafe for racing.

In Melbourne, it was a soggy start to the day, with more than 22mm of rain falling across the 12 hours to midday on Sunday. In the city’s south-west, Altona recorded heavier totals of 40mm of rain across 24 hours.

Health authorities remain on high alert for a thunderstorm asthma emergency, due to a combination of high grass pollen counts and likely strong winds and thunderstorm activity over East Gippsland.

A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for the state’s north-east across into the afternoon on Sunday, as damaging wind moves across Wodonga, Corryong, Bright, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Omeo.

While Melbourne is expected to reach a top of 19 degrees on Sunday, the Bureau of Meteorology’s senior forecaster Michael Efron said the city would feel much colder due to the breezy conditions.

“It’s going to feel a lot colder as we get into this afternoon as those winds pick up,” he said. “It will be quite a shock to the system, compared to the conditions that we’ve seen over the last week with those temperatures pushing into the low 30s.”

Across the first half of the week, Melbourne temperatures will be three to six degrees below average for this time of year, with a high of 16 degrees on Monday as rainfall eases, and a high of 17 degrees on Tuesday.

The cold front crossing the state will also bring minor snowfall across the Alpine region on Monday and Tuesday.

“There will be some flurries, especially at resorts like Mount Baw Baw, with all this cold air pushing through, and even the risk of some small hail along the coast overnight tonight and into the early hours of Monday,” Efron said on Sunday.

“These cold conditions are quite a typical weather system for spring – it’s when we do tend to see the largest swings between hot and cold weather for Victoria.

“Those really dramatic shifts in conditions are driven by the interior of the continent really heating up with the more intense sunlight at this time of year, whereas the oceans to our south are still quite cold.”

The 2026 MotoGP was also cancelled due to poor weather conditions, leaving thousands of fans unable to say goodbye to the last race at the iconic Phillip Island circuit.

Race organisers battled set back after set back due to the weather on Sunday, postponing track action until after 1pm after poor visibility around Phillip Island and Melbourne impacted the medical helicopter’s ability to fly.

Organisers said if a crash occurred during the race, the medical helicopter needed to be able to land and also navigate to the nearest trauma centre in Melbourne.

Both the MotoGP warm-up session and the Australian Superbikes Race 3 were cancelled in the morning and the Motor3 race was cancelled in the early afternoon.

Just after 3.30pm , race organisers announced the event had been cancelled.

People with asthma and spring hayfever in East Gippsland are being warned of an increased risk of developing asthma symptoms if large amounts of pollen are whipped into the air on Sunday.

Acting chief health officer Dr Clare Looker said people in the region needed to be prepared while the high-risk forecast was in place across Sunday. Those who had never had asthma could also experience shortness of breath and wheezing, she said.

“Asthma can become serious very quickly, so make sure you have your reliever medication with you and call Triple Zero if someone is struggling to breathe or their asthma is not improving,” Looker said.

“The safest place to be during the strong wind gusts before and during a thunderstorm is indoors, with windows and doors closed.”

Temperatures are likely to bounce back by late next week, with a forecast top of 25 on Saturday in Melbourne. Reasonable spring weather is expected for the Melbourne Cup.