Victoria facing storms but Christmas fine
Thunderstorms are set to hit parts of Victoria but Christmas Day will most likely be spared from wild weather, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Senior meteorologist Richard Russell said Thursday could be "very unstable" as a warm and humid air mass progressed eastward across the state.
This could result in potentially severe storms with heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail in central Victoria, as well as the northeast and east.
"We're looking at a particularly active day for thunderstorms," Mr Russell said.
"We've seen some quite significant rainfalls across Queensland and NSW's coast extending southwards as the week has progressed.
"The associated humidity and instability with that is increasing across eastern parts of the state ... (and) that acts as a really sharp focus for thunderstorm activity."
Parts of Melbourne could also be subjected to afternoon storms on Thursday, he said, while Friday and the weekend looked more settled.
The Bureau of Meteorology will release its Christmas Day forecast on Friday.
But Mr Russell said looking ahead nine days - outside the official forecast range - December 25 looked "quite settled" with a top of mid-to-high 20s, slightly above the December average of 24.8 degrees.
