Snow fell in the Victorian Alps and at least 15,000 people were left without power as wild weather lashed the state on Sunday.
The State Emergency Service responded to 430 calls for help as thunder, lightning, bursts of rain and frigid winds cast a pall over public events.
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Weather timelapse: Sunday Melbourne storms
More rain could fall in Melbourne on Sunday than is usually recorded for the month of April with damaging winds and possible flash flooding forecast also.
Severe weather warnings were issued for most of Victoria on Sunday morning after an initial downpour on Saturday night. Ballarat received its average rainfall for April in just 12 hours on Sunday.
And the cold snap is expected to continue into Monday.
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Most of the calls for help were for fallen trees and building damage.
The worst-affected areas were in Victoria's south-west, from Port Campbell to Cobden, Colac, the Otways and as far north as Ballarat.
Snow began to fall in Victoria's high country resorts about 2pm, two months before the ski season's official opening.
In Melbourne, the temperature plunged to 10.3 degrees by 5pm.
A spokeswoman for Citipower and Powercor said 9000 customers still remained without power about 9.30pm on Sunday. She said crews would be working throughout the night to restore power. Earlier 15,000 customers faced blackouts due to the wind downing power lines.
The company services customers including inner Melbourne and south western, western and central Victoria.
The Piers Festival was moved indoors to South Melbourne Town Hall and the MCG car park was closed. A cruise in Port Phillip Bay by the tall ship Tenacious was cancelled due to extreme weather.
In the state's western's district, more than 20mm of rain in seven hours forced stewards to abandon the Terang Cup near Warrnambool after just one of the eight races was run, The Standard reported.
The MCG carpark was closed for the AFL match between Essendon and Carlton.
Port Phillip Ferries said all its services would be cancelled on Monday for safety reasons.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon warned the worst was not over, with cold and rain expected to continue into Monday morning.
"For Melbourne, we are still yet to see the heaviest rain reach us and we will see that in the next few hours," Mr Carlyon said.
"We are still expecting falls of 20-40mm across the Melbourne area. It is a wait and see how much we actually end up with. But it certainly looks quite wet."
Mr Carlyon said on Sunday evening there was still a chance some areas in the northwestern suburbs would experience rainfall close to the April monthly average.
He said the rain, which might bring flooding, was expected to last into the early hours of Monday morning, before easing up.
"We'll wake up to a a fairly cool day, a few showers and a top of 16 degrees."
Weatherzone: Melbourne storm tracker mapMr Carlyon said all the major ski resorts - Falls Creek, Mount Buller, Mount Hotham - received light snowfall throughout Sunday afternoon.
"They should get more snow through the night, perhaps a cover of 10cm by dawn tomorrow," he said.
"It will warm to 3 to 4 degrees by late morning so the snow will finish by then."
The highest rainfall on Sunday in the Melbourne area was in Rockbank, 29km west of Melbourne CBD, where it rained 20mm 13 hours to 10pm.
In Victoria, the highest rainfall on Sunday in the 13 hours to 10pm was 67mm Durdidwarrah, west of Geelong, followed by 58mm at Mount Hope, near Ballarat, 54mm at Malmsbury near Bendigo, 50mm at Mount Cowley, followed by 46mm in Ballarat .
Temperatures plummeted to minus 2.2 degrees in the Alps, where residents woke to six degrees before the freeze set in.
The strongest wind gusts were recorded at Falls Creek, with 120km/h at 11.25am. Mount Hotham recorded a high of 119km/h at 10.11am. At 8.30pm on Sunday, the wind also picked up at Aireys Inlet, near Geelong, to 115km/h.
Dangerous surf conditions closed beaches at Portsea, Gunnamatta, Barwon Heads, Venus Bay and Lakes Entrance.
Poor water quality closed beaches at Sandridge, St Kilda, Elwood, Brighton and Sandringham.
Mr Carlyon said Sunday's Melbourne maximum of 17.5 degrees was reached at 6am before the mercury plunged to a shivery 12 to 13 degrees for the rest of the day.
"It's a real taste of winter. The weather does recover towards the middle of the week but we are not going to have those days in the high 20s."
To stay up-to-date, check the Vic Emergency website.