Always take the weather with you

Well it’s the start of another year, and now that summer’s begun the highways and byways will be criss-crossed by a number of vehicles and travellers all wanting to experience a break on the open road.

While not everyone takes to the road at this time of year, whenever you travel it’s useful to be aware of expected weather conditions, road closures and traffic hazards (particularly during peak periods). Fortunately, if you know where to look, there are a number of websites and phone numbers you can use to contact the relevant authorities and find out more.

Bureau of Meteorology:
As well as providing information on the current temperature, future forecasts, flood warnings and weather maps, the Bureau provides a summary of the latest weather warnings issued in each state (this information is refreshed every two minutes to ensure the most accurate prediction possible). In addition, you can contact any of the regional offices of the Bureau for further information.

Western Australia - 08 9263 2222
Northern Territory - 08 8920 3800
South Australia - 08 8366 2600
Tasmania - 03 6221 2000
Victoria - 03 9669 4000
New South Wales - 02 9296 1555
Queensland - 07 3239 8700
Australian Capital Territory - 02 6247 0411

Australian Road Reports Site
This road information is compiled by RACQ in partnership with various government sources. Before you head into an area, this online system is a perfect way to check road conditions, closures and restrictions (such as road works). Simply click the state or territory you wish to know about. Then you can view individual alert points on a map, live traffic cameras, or sometimes even download a list of road alerts and cautions, depending on which state you are investigating. Note: When you select a state or territory the screen will usually open up as a separate window, so you may need to unblock pop-ups for this page to function correctly. Many internet browsers contain a pop-up blocker, which prevents online advertising from opening in a new window. If you have this function, and you click a state on the road reports map, your cursor might change to a red and yellow symbol, or a yellow bar might appear at the top of the page saying it has been blocked. You can click this bar and select the option to allow the pop-up. Alternatively, there should be a pop-up blocker icon at the top of your browser. You can click that and select the option to allow pop-ups for this site.

If you don’t have internet access you can contact each state and territory on the following numbers to find out the latest traffic conditions.

South Australia - 1800 018 313
Northern Territory - 1800 246 199
New South Wales - 132 701
Queensland - 13 19 40
Victoria - 131 171
Western Australia - 138 138
Australian Capital Territory - 13 22 81
Tasmania - 1300 135 513

It’s also bushfire season again and it’s important to be aware of the latest alerts when travelling. The Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (Bushfire CRC) will direct you to information about current bushfires throughout Australia and New Zealand. The site contains a number of links to the sites of each state and territory, so you can narrow down your search to the relevant areas. Visit www.bushfirecrc.com/news/bushfirestatus_links.html for more information.

For more details, click here to visit the new page on CMCA’s website, which contains all this information and more.

Safe travelling – hopefully this article will assist you in getting where you’re going

The CMCA Team