A major weather system will kick off early in the day across the city, bringing a cold front and damaging winds — with warnings of blizzard conditions in some areas of the state.
Melbourne’s Bayside suburbs can expect to be the hardest hit by torrential rain.
Suburbs like Brighton, Hampton, Sandringham and Beaumaris can expect to receive 50mm of rain in just 12 hours, which would normally be just one month’s worth of winter rain.
In other parts of Melbourne the rain is predicted to be slightly less but still significant.
Forecasts show the eastern suburbs will receive 30mm while the western suburbs will cop 10mm.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has also issued a coastal hazard warning for abnormally high tides across the Central and Gippsland coasts.
It said the unusually high tides could lead to sea water flooding in low-lying coastal areas, with areas between Cape Otway and the Victorian border with New South Wales possibly in the eye of the storm.
Foreshores along Port Phillip and Western Port bays are also among those with warnings.
Tides are likely to rise well above the normal high tide mark on Thursday afternoon.
Locations which may be among the worst affected include Melbourne, Brighton, Frankston, Ocean Grove, Inverloch, Port Albert, Phillip Island and Lakes Entrance.
Victoria is also one of three states on alert for blizzards and damaging winds.
The BoM has warned a complex low-pressure system could generate dangerous winds of up to 90km/h for parts of Victoria over the coming days.
Melbourne’s highest temperature on Thursday is forecast at 14C, with an overnight low of 10C.