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Rhine water levels 2017 and similar topics


notamermaid
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Hello amd1234,

 

Notamermaid glad you had a nice vacation. I have been gathering clothes to pack and monitoring the weather on the Rhine and Moselle.. I keep taking out and adding to my pile. I know it's almost two weeks before we leave but I noticed the weather in certain cities(Cologne, Amsterdam) have been rainy and cooler then normal... Is this unusual for August? I was dreading heat and humidity. We live in Boston and the summer has been rainy and very warm..Has the levels on the Rhine been ok? I have capris in my pile maybe just layer up! Thx for your input..

 

The weather along the Rhine does vary, sometimes quite a bit, from the Upper Rhine to the Lower Rhine and into the Netherlands. Summer is not the same every year, so cold days in August are not unusual. For my holiday in England I was prepared for cold days and took everything from short-sleeved dress to leather jacket, with umbrella always close by. It was very mixed and consequently quite mixed, a little on the cool side, in the Rhine valley. We very much get general weather conditions "sent" from the British Isles, it is the norm. But heat waves tend to be higher in temperatures than in England as we are more continental than the British Isles orf course. In winter we sometimes get the cold wind from the East, sort of from the direction of Russia. Those days can feel really cold.

 

 

You pack two weeks in advance? I could not do that but then I know what to expect in the places I go to. I just take whatever weather is thrown at me and buy what I did not take, in winter it was a scarf, this time it was thin socks... I am a slightly chaotic suitcase filler. :o

 

As you are only two weeks away from your travels now things will get easier as a general weather trend is available to look up, if you have not done so on accuweather yet try it out, here is an example: https://www.accuweather.com/en/de/cologne/50667/daily-weather-forecast/180169?day=11 Temperatures in Germany can easily reach 85 Fahrenheit again and might even get up to 90 again. Expect it to be a little cooler in the Netherlands than in the Upper and Middle Rhine valley.

 

As for those capris: I am sure they will fine in towns but if you tend to feel cool easily do take long trousers, especially for morning excursions. And remember that thin-soled shoes look good with capris but are bad for long excursions on set (stones) and the rarer cobble stones. Some form of rain protection is always good and think of another layer of clothing if you have a mountain trip in Switzerland planned.

 

As mentioned, the river level looks good.

 

notamermaid

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Notamermaid thx for your response. I am a terrible packer I am not packed as yet just pile some things and hopefully take half.😝 I will wear my jeans on the plane and these will be my pants if it gets chilly in the morning.. For me the anticipation is so enjoyable love the planning. Your information has been very helpful.. thx again!!!

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Hi, I am sailing the the Main having just left the Rhine. We are in Wurzburg. The conditions have been perfect as has the weather. Touring has been done in short sleeves although very chilly at night. For 1st time cruisers I hope this helps you as it was the information I was looking for. Happy sailing.

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Thank you, packed already, for the info. I hope you have a splendid time during the rest of your cruise.

 

The Rhine valley is having mixed weather this week, sunshine and rain with temperatures between 16 and 22 degrees maximum during the afternoon. In sheltered places or bigger towns it can be a little more. Next week, Tuesday to be precise, will see higher temperatures up to 28 degrees (30 in the warmest part of the valley) followed by thunderstorms.

 

The river level right now is at 152cm in Kaub and 139cm in Koblenz.

 

notamermaid

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Hi, I am sailing the the Main having just left the Rhine. We are in Wurzburg. The conditions have been perfect as has the weather. Touring has been done in short sleeves although very chilly at night. For 1st time cruisers I hope this helps you as it was the information I was looking for. Happy sailing.

I hope you enjoyed Würzburg! One of our favorite places to visit. Lots of nice memories from our visits there. Enjoy the rest of the cruise.

 

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Hi, I am sailing the the Main having just left the Rhine. We are in Wurzburg. The conditions have been perfect as has the weather. Touring has been done in short sleeves although very chilly at night. For 1st time cruisers I hope this helps you as it was the information I was looking for. Happy sailing.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info! I hope you'll share any other information you think would be helpful for newby river cruisers.

Cheryl

 

 

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The big anniversary is coming up and the British art lovers (the people in the Middle Rhine valley a bit as well) are in a somewhat celebratory mood remembering the first trip of William Turner to the Rhine. Here is a nice article with an update on the Turner route, a project started by a German local artist (I have mentioned this in a previous post): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/river-cruises/jmw-turner-route-rhine-germany-cruise/

 

Not sure if Turner would have enjoyed the colours in my area today but there is a certain dramatic element to this grey sky and rain.

 

The water level has risen to 174cm at Kaub and 156cm in Koblenz, which is good to prepare us for sunny days to come.

 

notamermaid

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Beyond the standard ports... part 7

 

Less than an hour's sailing time downstream from Koblenz is the village of Engers. It does not have town status and is a suburban district of Neuwied. This sounds a little unappealing but Engers had a long history of independence from its larger neighbour before it was "swallowed up" in an adminstrative reform. Testimony of its appeal and importance as a toll station-cum-favourable place for living on the Rhine's embankment is the electoral palace built in the late 18th century. The village does not have a website in English, but Engers Palace has, it is a chamber music educational institution with venue (grand restored hall) for public concerts, a hotel and even has a licence for civil weddings: https://schloss-engers.de/component/content/article/2-uncategorised/65-englisch.html

 

Standing in front of the Rhine frontage of the palace and facing the river you can see to your right the railway line bridge connecting Engers with Urmitz on the other side of the river (it is the line Cologne - Koblenz). The tragic WWII history of the Urmitz bridge (as it is generally called) is recalled by the eye witness Brigadeer General Albin Irzyk who has celebrated his 100th birthday this year. You can find the interview on youtube. The bridge was a sister bridge to the ones at Remagen and Bingen and is the only of the three to have been rebuilt after the war.

 

The village has retained a few medieval buildings and has quite nice embankments to walk along.

 

Who docks there? Until 2016 it was mainly day excursion boats as the landing stage was not equipped for the modern river cruise ships. In 2016 a company established a new dock in cooperation with Avalon. Avalon now docks there a few times a year on one of its itineraries and plans more for 2018 when a concert in the castle will become one of its offers for passengers. Other companies might follow as the dock can be rented by other cruise lines: http://www.river-dock.com/Neuwied-Engers.php (nice photo of the palace).

 

notamermaid

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Who docks there? Until 2016 it was mainly day excursion boats as the landing stage was not equipped for the modern river cruise ships. In 2016 a company established a new dock in cooperation with Avalon. Avalon now docks there a few times a year on one of its itineraries and plans more for 2018 when a concert in the castle will become one of its offers for passengers. Other companies might follow as the dock can be rented by other cruise lines: http://www.river-dock.com/Neuwied-Engers.php (nice photo of the palace).

 

notamermaid

We docked there last year on Avalon's Paris to Amsterdam cruise. Unfortunately it was a rainy Sunday evening, and we just managed a walk around the castle, but it looked interesting. Maybe we'll catch a concert on another cruise..

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Notamermaid,

 

I just noticed that the link you posted for the Engers docking site has rates posted. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen rates posted before. Thanks for the link.

 

€ 220 for 0-2 hours

€ 430 for 1-12 hours

€ 450 for 12-24 hours

 

and

 

€ 0.38 per kWh for electricity

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Hello FuelScience,

 

yes, those infos seem to be not that readily accessible (current link excepted) in the amateur world, i.e. outside of the river cruising industry. I found one figure in connection with the new dock in Duisburg last year. I can only remember that it was a little higher than Engers, I cannot recall the exact figure for 24 hours. For Rüdesheim I found figures a while ago, but only because they were disclosed in an older newspaper article in connection with a discussion for new docking facilities (a new one has indeed been built there since). The rate for 24 hours was 416 Euros in 2010!

 

notamermaid

 

Notamermaid,

 

I just noticed that the link you posted for the Engers docking site has rates posted. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen rates posted before. Thanks for the link.

 

€ 220 for 0-2 hours

€ 430 for 1-12 hours

€ 450 for 12-24 hours

 

and

 

€ 0.38 per kWh for electricity

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Just reporting briefly from the Rhine that a few days of rain and cooler temperatures have kept the river at a good level for sailing. Kaub is now at 169cm and Koblenz at 167cm. The Elbe is very low again, by the way, with Dresden being at 76cm.

 

The radar image currently shows a more or less clear sky over the whole of Germany and temperatures have risen to what one can expect in August.

 

notamermaid

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Thanks Notamermaid. Our cruise on the Rhine is just three and a half weeks away. Nice to know the river is cooperating. I have been checking Accuweather and it seems the temperatures will be significant lower than August. Am I reading that correctly? Again thanks for you watching out for us from over the pond who do not know what Father Rhine is doing.

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Hello Bellago,

 

my pleasure. September is indeed cooler than August, but there can be some nice warm days. It is a general feel of "autumn is coming". The nights are cooler, sometimes chilly, but not frosty. There could be more rain and for me short sleeves tend to stay in the wardrobe. Jackets are usually needed in the morning, expect feeling cool on a morning guided tour. But it depends on your personal level of comfort. The Upper and Middle Rhine valleys can have some very pleasant days indeed and 20 to 25 degrees in the afternoon are often still possible. It tends to be a little cooler and windier the closer you get to the Netherlands and the coast, ie. not as mild as in the upper and middle valleys.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

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It is a very warm and sunny day on the Rhine, indeed all over Germany. The temperatures are forecast to rise a little more tomorrow peaking at 32 degrees in the Rhine valley near Karlsruhe and Mannheim. Things are quiet around where I live, apart from a minor accident on the river last week and another WWII bomb found in Koblenz yesterday. As the site is in a hilly suburb the evacuation area does not reach the old town or the river. However, 21,000 people need to be evacuated and it looks as if the main railway station will be closed. The bomb disposal will take place on Saturday.

 

As it is so warm and there is hardly any rainfall the river level has dropped to 136cm at Kaub and 130cm at Koblenz. Thunderstorms are forecast for Wednesday so the drop in water levels will be halted a little.

 

notamermaid

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They find World War 2 bombs quite frequently. Two weeks ago, they found one about 4 blocks from my apartment in Düsseldorf. It was a small one, so the evacuation radius wasn't large. Earlier in the year, they found a large one by the Düsseldorf airport that shut down the airport while they defused and several highways. But they typically defuse during the work day, and always have shelters available and transportation to them. Also the evacuation only usually lasts a few hours. My German coworkers don't even see it much as news when it happens!

 

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jklc123,

 

as polabear has mentioned, those incidences are so frequent that they are not a "novelty". I do not know the overall statistics, with a bit of time I will look it up, see what I can find.

 

People are provided with shelter in gymnasiums, i.e. schools, some go to friends and family nearby or are indeed working as might be the case this Saturday, for a shop assistant for example. Logistics become a bit more awkward when a hospital is involved. People might be discharged early or, if possible and sensible, transferred to another one. In almost all cases, people are - let us say - evacuated by 8am, the area declared secure by 10am and the defusal over by 1pm.

 

Bombs can appear anywhere, on any building site, in any town or nearby a town, but more often in places that had military importance.

 

Hopefully all goes well again on Saturday.

 

By the way, a bomb in Trier was found just last week.

 

notamermaid

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Another one: British WWII bomb found in Frankfurt on the Main

 

Another bomb find will cause a mass evacuation of a town. After Saturday in Koblenz, on Sunday in Frankfurt a 1.8 ton bomb will be defused in Frankfurt Westend (quite literally the west end of the city - not of the old town centre). That is a truely nasty size, a so-called blockbuster designed to blast away a whole block of buildings. The evacuation radius (not yet fully confirmed) will be about 1.5km. As it is a densely populated area the evacuation will affect at least 60.000 citizens including official buildings like two hospitals, the central police station, the German Bundesbank and the radio/television station Hessischer Rundfunk. The botanical gardens will also be closed. The area reaches close to the town centre at one side but does not include it. River traffic will not be affected apparently but public transport will not run in the evacuation area.

 

I would have written this in a separate thread had the river traffic been mentioned in the newspaper reports. It is not yet clear if air traffic will be affected.

 

If you hear any news of air traffic please post in a separate thread. The evacuation this time will affect the whole of Sunday so the disruption to air traffic could be significant. I will keep watching the news.

 

 

Edit: here is a news report in English: http://www.dw.com/en/frankfurt-to-evacuate-70000-while-world-war-ii-bomb-defused/a-40301483

 

notamermaid

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Hello Notamermaid....well countdown to our trip leaving Sept 15 for our 13 day River cruise on Uniworld River Queen.. Rhine and Moselle. I have been checking weather so I can pack correctly.. The weather looks nice cool mornings! Packing a waterproof rain jacket and will it be too cool for capris for day time touring? White slacks must be a no no in Europe! Especially September. I live in Florida part time and white is the color...:) thx. Again for answering all my questions.

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Cool in the mornings now, yes. I would certainly find it to cool for capris. Actually I do not know what slacks are (my BE folks never use the word at least not when I am around). The colour white is not necessarily a no no but people tend to go for more darker colours come autumn, I find. White can be awkward when out and about just think of damp benches... Out of sheer convenience I would pack darker colours.

 

notamermaid

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