The Ovens River at Wangaratta is slowly receding after peaking just below the major flood level on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the river reached 12.64 metres at 1:15pm on the river gauge before slowly falling close to the moderate flood mark at 12.41m at 12:45pm on Thursday.

The river rose dramatically following Wangaratta’s wettest August day in 148 years of records, according to former climatologist Peter Nelson.

Wangaratta’s 67.2mm in the 24 hours to 9am Monday was not the only record to fall, with Whitfield (127mm), Rutherglen (52mm), Mount Buffalo (166mm) and Benalla (51mm) all receiving record rain for an August day.

The bureau predicts the Ovens River in Wangaratta will stay above minor flooding until Saturday.

While no reading is available, moderate flooding was estimated to be occurring on the King River at Docker Road bridge on Thursday afternoon.

The bureau forecasted the river to drop below moderate flooding on Thursday evening and stay above minor flooding into Friday morning.

A number of rural city roads remain closed due to floodwaters, including the Great Alpine Road between Porter Street and Detour Road, Pinkerton Crescent, Dale Street, Stamps Lane, Ambrosio Road and Arundels Lane.

It’s advised to stay away from flooded drains, rivers, streams and waterways and obey road closure signs.

For local emergency management warnings and advice visit www.emergency.vic.gov.au.

For emergency assistance call SES on 132 500 and in life-threatening emergencies, call 000 (triple zero) immediately.

Monitor VicTraffic for up-to-date road closure updates.

The forecast for Wangaratta remained clear of rain for the rest of the week.