The southeast has battened down the hatches with strong winds buffeting the region ahead of an approaching cold front. Melbourne experienced gusts in excess of 60km/h this afternoon, a sample of the strong winds that are expected overnight. Winds will be strongest over the west with damaging winds over 90km/h a possibility. Alpine areas of the state may see wind gusts over 100km/h. Victoria is not the only state affected by the winds. Tasmania will also need to take care as the cold front pushes into the Tasman Sea on Thursday. Drivers have been advised to take care when driving as gusts may reach gale force strengths of over 70km/h. Locally damaging winds are also a threat to the Southern Tablelands and alpine areas of NSW and the ACT, with damaging wind gusts a real possibility in elevated areas. Sydney and the east coast will also see strong winds tomorrow but not as high as in the mountains. The approaching cold front will blow showers of up to 5mm over much of Victoria with rain in the mountains tending to snow on Thursday night. In NSW showers will spread over the ranges into the central interior. Tasmania will see scattered showers, mostly in the west.