Striking: lightning over Station Pier at Port Melbourne last night. Today's forecast is for a mild 24C. Picture: Mark Smith


MELBURNIANS welcomed some much-needed rain last night, marking the end of another hot spell. The weather bureau said a line of thunderstorms sweeping across western Victoria hit parts of metropolitan Melbourne just before 10pm. Senior meteorologist Phil King said the state had received much-needed rain. He said parts of Victoria had falls of up to 35mm. "We haven't had rain for a good month and desperately need this rain," he said. Mr King said that Victoria had experienced severe rainfall deficiencies for several seasons. "We are still a long way from normal," he said. Mr King said there would be a marked cool change this week from the warmer conditions over the Easter period.

But it wasn't all good news, with the SES reporting at 10.30pm that it had received about 30 calls from people from Ararat through to Melbourne for various problems including leaking roofs and minor flash flooding.

_{Bron: Herald Sun} | Gewijzigd: 24 maart 2008, 18:32 uur, door Marga