Melbourne has warm winter day as storms hit the state WIND and rain lashed the city this afternoon, following record high temperatures for Melbourne in July. The Bureau warns strong winds could continue throughout the evening and have the potential to cause damage if the thunderstorms worsen. Melbourne has received 5mm of rain so far today with more rain expected over the weekend. Wild winds will plague motorists on their way home from work with fallen trees and road hazards expected to cause delays, the SES has warned. Since midnight, 138 requests for assistance have been made to the SES, with the majority of these from fallen trees and power lines. SES spokesman Toby Borella said the suburbs of Brimbank, Croydon, Northcote and Waverly are among the worst hit. "We've had quite a few requests coming through that are likely to continue through this evening," Mr Borella said. These are mainly for trees falling down on roads, power lines and other traffic hazards. As peak hour hits we advise motorists to drive to wet conditions and be aware of road hazards; we have volunteers ready to respond where required. Heavy rain totals have been recorded across the state, 16mm has been received in Kilmore, 19mm for Romsey, 13mm for Mary Creek, and 15mm for Toolern. Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Rod Dickson said further shower activity is likely to continue today and over the weekend. "Shower activity will hang around to early next week with a shower or two around," Mr Dickson said. It is unusually warm today (Thursday) but rain is expected for both Saturday and Sunday. The strongest winds recorded in Victoria so far today have been Mt Hotham, with winds up to 122km/h and Mt William with winds at 120km/h. Gusts of up to 80 to 100km/h have been recorded over central and western parts of the state, the weather bureau says. Mr Dickson said elevated areas are going to see the strongest winds with alpine regions seeing gusts of up to 130km/h. In Melbourne, winds over Port Phillip Bay have been particularly strong, averaging up to 80km/h. The weather bureau warned strong winds could continue throughout the evening and have the potential to cause damage if the thunderstorms worsen. Meteorologist Richard Carlyon said today was the warmest July day since 1994, when the temperature rose to 23.1C. Maximum temperatures have been above average every month in 2013. "This is no mean feat considering weather data exists for Melbourne back to the 1850s," Sky News senior meteorologist Tom Saunders yesterday. Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Harvey Stern confirmed the record, which he said exceeded an average temperature of 22.3C for the first half of 2007. Ballarat has seen an average maximum of 20C, compared to an expected average of 18.5C for the first six months of the year, while it has been 23.3C on average in Bendigo, far warmer than the 21.8C norm. With Tom Minear and Brendan Casey