© Ross MarsdenA car flipped on the Midland Hwy at Perth in slippery conditions.
Bureau of Meteorology Media and Community Relations manager Malcolm Riley said computer models were suggesting that several hundred millimetres of rain could fall between Tuesday midnight and Friday midnight.
"Heavy falls are expected about the north and northeast where there is the possibility of flash flooding ," Mr Riley said.
"Northern rivers could reach at least moderate flood level.
The warnings come as police warned motorists to drive with caution in the extreme weather.
A car flipped on its roof in slippery conditions on the Midland Hwy near Perth yesterday and the driver was lucky to escape without serious injuries.
Insp Beech-Jones urged motorists to learn from Queensland motorists and realise that cars can be replaced but lives can't.
"Probably the most valuable lesson we've seen through watching the vision of the Queensland floods is if you can't see the bottom of the water don't drive through it," he said.
"The fact is that you don't know weather they're potholes or if the road service has become unstable."
Insp Beech-Jones said speed was the simplest and most effective way that motorists could ensure their safety.
He also urged drivers to turn on their park or head lights when driving in poor visibility and drive with vigilance to ensure that warning signs displaying hazardous conditions were noticed.
Keeping a safe breaking distance between cars was also very important he said, particularly because it has not rained for a few weeks and fuels had built up on roads.
Heavy rain did not eventuate across most of the state until late afternoon yesterday.
By 3pm 40mm had fallen at Burnie and by 5.35 pm Mt Wellington had received 45mm.
East coast towns from Orford to Scamander received between 10 and 14mm and Launceston received a total of 9mm of steady rain.
The State Emergency Service (SES) and Launceston City Council (LCC) delivered Flood Preparedness kits to residents in parts of Kings Meadows and Lilydale yesterday.
Regional manager Mhairi Revie said the kits were delivered because the areas had previously been prone to flooding.
Winds were strongest on the north west coast with gusts of up to 76kmh at Smithton.
Mr Riley said strong and gusty easterly winds were also expected today.
The weather is caused by a slow moving high pressure system south of Tasmania and a low pressure trough from the mainland.
Hydro Tasmania Energy Resources manager David Marshall said yesterday it would draw down key storages in the north of the state, including Trevallyn, Gairdner, Parangana and Cethana in anticipation of high inflows over the next 48 hours.
"The main purpose of drawing down these storages is to minimise spill from this rain event," he said.
"This drawdown will have no impact in the Meander and South-Esk catchments as the flood prone areas are upstream of the Trevallyn Dam."
"If the rain does arrive as forecast, then these dams will fill up over the next two days and, if rain continues, then Trevallyn and the Mersey-Forth dams are likely to spill.
He said looked like the weather pattern would push through to the West Coast and the top of the Derwent River system.
"We are also hopeful the rains will push through into the Great Lake and Gordon catchments where there is still plenty of room to store runoff.
Mr Marshall said the latest rain was not seen as extreme for this time of year and was well within what Hydro Tasmania considered normal.
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