A cool change has blown in far earlier than expected, bringing much-needed relief for restless sleepers across Melbourne.
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The temperature hit 36.7 degrees in the city at 5pm on Monday, exceeding the day's forecast maximum of 35 degrees.
People planning to attend the vigil in Federation Square for the victims of Friday's Bourke Street rampage had been advised to take water with them.
It was 37.6 degrees in Avalon at 5pm, 38 in Essendon, 36.4 in Laverton and 35.7 in Geelong.
The mercury hit 39.6 degrees in Avalon at 1.50pm.
The weather bureau had forecast the cool change to be delayed until 2am with temperatures as high as 30 degrees at midnight.
But the wind change arrived at around 7pm, dropping temperatures by 13 degrees in about an hour, said weather bureau senior forecaster Richard Carlyon.
"It should be a lot more comfortable tonight," he said.
Temperatures are now forecast to drop into the teens overnight with a chance of a few drops of rainfall.
Melbourne is experiencing a January close to the long-term average, according to the weather bureau.
Typically we get four or five days with nightly temperatures above 20 in January; this will be the third this year.
While temperatures are on average, January had fluctuated significantly, with less consecutive hot days than usual.
