It's going to be a hot, muggy night in Melbourne, with a cool change not expected until midnight, the weather bureau says.
On Tuesday, Melbourne exceeded its forecast maximum by two degrees, with the mercury hitting 36.3 degrees at 4.30pm.
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Melbourne weather: Swelter then pelter
Get set for a 34 degree Celsius day, before light showers welcomes a 15 degree drop in temperature, with the cool change lasting until next week.
Temperatures are expected to start dropping by 7pm in Melbourne, but it will still be a hot, humid night according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
"It's still going to be a warm evening, it might be a bit unconformable and a bit humid as well," senior forecaster Michael Efron said.
![A jetskier enjoys on Port Phillip Bay enjoys the burst of hot weather.](/web/20161213090527im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/a/4/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gta6bo.png/1481617538411.jpg)
"But after midnight a strong south-westerly change pushes through and temperatures will start to fall a bit more.
"By dawn on Wednesday we will be back to around 16 degrees."
The cool change is set to come earlier for lucky bayside dwellers, with a sea breeze expected by 6pm, dropping temperatures there to the mid-20s.
In Geelong, the temperature dropped a staggering 10 degrees in 30 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, before it started to climb again.
![Summer in Port Phillip Bay.](/web/20161213090527im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/0/o/2/e/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gta6bo.png/1481617538411.jpg)
The temperature was 34.5 degrees at 3pm, before falling to 25.4 degrees at 3.30pm. By 5.30pm, however, the mercury had risen to 29 degrees.
In Melbourne, the temperature fell by 7 degrees between 4pm and 4.30pm. However, it was still 28.4 degrees at 7pm.
There will be a smattering of rain around Melbourne on Tuesday evening, but Mr Efron said showers were not expected until about 7pm.
"We will get a few spots of rain later tonight, but it won't be particularly heavy," he said.
The winds will ease heading into the evening, Mr Efron said. About midday, the winds were gusting at 50 to 60km/h, but dropped to 20 to 30km/h by late afternoon.
A total fire ban was declared for Tuesday across the Mallee, Wimmera and Northern Country districts.
There were more than 20 grass and spot fires across the state, the CFA said.
On Tuesday afternoon, a CFA spokeswoman said "peak fire conditions" had not yet passed in some parts of the state.
"It's still hot and windy in the north of the state with some risk of lightening, but we have been very lucky today with some quick responses from air bombing and land crews, which meant we didn't get into any situations with bigger fires," she said.