notamermaid

Hmm, I think we can wind down a bit and bring the thread to a close slowly. Catching up on a a couple of things and the December recap. First, Cochem. This came up as part of a Viking itinerary from Basel to Trier. The itinerary change as posted by @SplashOfWater : "She also told me that they were informed the Cochem Christmas market stop was cancelled because it was closed on Dec 20 (their stop date). Looking at the calendar for the market, it only runs this year until Dec 17. You can't tell me that Viking didn't know this in advance." To which I replied with this comment: "As regards Cochem Christmas market - I thought all dates were published online as is standard practice latest in summer. Large events dates are normally fixed nearly a year prior." In the meantime I have got round to speaking to a lady at the tourist-information centre for Cochem over the phone. She confirmed that the Christmas market closed on 17th December and it was a planned date, not at short notice, published a long time prior. She also stated the market in 2024 is going to be open again on dates closer to the 24th (possibly 20th, you would need to check online, she was not quite sure yet). The early closure was a one-off. notamermaid

Interesting question. Not sure that I can give that good an answer as I do not live on the Lower Rhine. As I have hinted at, the Lower Rhine is a bit different in nature from the Middle Rhine. There are still several agglomerations like Duisburg with its massive harbour, but the valley is wider with more flood plains. The river is measured differently, hence the fact that while Cologne was close to a river traffic ban at Duisburg the graph did not even get close: It is an environment I am not too familiar with, but we often here of dykes being watched carefully, i.e. those that protect the hinterland beyond the flood plains in serious flooding. So the river is managed, controlled and watched all the time. No flooding is allowed to go unchecked, there are detailed flood plains and inundation maps for all the lines mentioned above in colours with HW and a number. Those are the lines for statistical flooding every x years. In the graph I only entered HW2. That means this is a flood happening something between every two to five years. Such a wave is in my eyes manageable. Of course you get flooded cellars, unusable roads, etc. In terms of manageable I would consider this easier and not as dangerous as a storm flood coming up the Elbe and flooding Hamburg or what happens to the Netherlands occasionally or what is happening to Pas-de-Calais right now. notamermaid

A quick look at the Danube. While the Regen and a couple of other rivers are very high, there has not been such a high volume of water coming from the Upper Danube. This means the river is coping better than the Rhine where the tributaries have created a substantial rise in the Middle Rhine valley. Passau gauge is showing 630cm, which is again getting tricky for river cruise ships - granted, few are sailing - but this is not considered real flooding. notamermaid

The river has naturally been very busy today since the ban on traffic was lifted at Koblenz. The backlog of ships is clearing, slowly of course as the whole Middle Rhine valley is still on mark I. The big clean-up has started, one cannot allow the mud to dry: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/dauerregen-und-hochwasser-in-rlp-102.html Note the buoy construction in the video, that is a "Wahrschauboot", the signal boat warns traffic of narrow passage at the bridge construction site. notamermaid

Yup! Compare the slight incline at Speyer in this photo in December. I think that pontoon is being stretched to its physical limits (thanks to the photographer for uploading this photo, he invites comments): https://www.fotocommunity.de/photo/hochwasser-am-rhein-gorzitze-dieter/47964760 As this "Treasures..." itinerary differs from the standard Amsterdam to Basel one, the Viking Tialfi is in Nijmegen today. Facing the wave later today. Cologne officially peaked at 823cm, 7cm under the threshold for a river traffic ban. The crest of the wave is now between Duisburg and Wesel. They will both peak before the evening. The conditions on the Lower Rhine there in Germany are different, no prospect of a river traffic ban. I am not familiar with the Rhine/Waal in the Netherlands. notamermaid

The Main has "burst its banks" in Frankfurt. Includes photos from all over Hesse state: https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/hochwasser-in-hessen-main-in-frankfurt-ueber-ufer-getreten-v20,hochwasser-hessen-116.html The colour map: It means continued strain for the Middle Rhine valley levels. notamermaid

Koblenz gauge is better, has left mark II. Andernach, okay, now also going down. Oberwinter peaked at 676cm, four centimetres below mark II. Deep breath at Cologne, river traffic ban averted. Düsseldorf gauge at peak now. Well below mark II for a river traffic ban. In short. I have checked Kaub to Duisburg. All on navigational flood mark I. Difficult conditions. No ban. Maxau looking good, but also mark I. The water levels will recede for a bit, but the Rhine still needs to take on that high volume of water from the Main. Now we have frost coming, i.e. a proper January. notamermaid

Online booking websites give a clue. In Germany, you can book few cruises in Europe. You mostly get the Nile. A few ships sail. Arosa on the Rhine, on the Danube; CroisiEurope has a couple of specials for the Carnivals in February. Viva Cruises with three ships. Those are mostly short return trips, but they have the long canals trip of Northern Germany in February, that is one vessel doing it. Viking with its long offer on the Rhine is the odd one out. Amawaterways will be starting in February this year. There may be a few others. notamermaid

Würzburg level is again far too high: The traditional organized swim in the Main on Epiphany has had to be cancelled. notamermaid

Andernach gauge looking good, signs of going down now. Oberwinter gauge at peak now, looking to run just four centimetres under the crucial mark II and then hopefully going down. Cologne tight, but signs are relatively good for staying under flood mark II. The Viking Alruna has left Basel. notamermaid

Perhaps she was not allowed to sail. Dresden was above Höchster Schifffahrtswasserstand until the afternoon of the 30th. The level did go down over New Year's Eve but is now back up to 564cm. The Upper Elbe and the Vltava still being high (the latter a bit better upstream from Prague than yesterday) this is not going to be good, especially with the temperatures dropping unpleasantly low. At least the rain should stop with you as well as in the West. notamermaid

Today it has already been dryer, the sky brighter and this will continue. Temperatures are going down so that rain will turn into snow in cooler areas tomorrow and then we will have days of frost and almost no precipitation. So good for the river levels to recover. notamermaid

The level at Koblenz has peaked. Data suggests that right now the peak is going through Andernach, 10cm below the crucial mark II. Oberwinter: tight. One Viking river cruise landing stage at Cologne is confirmed partly under water as per this video of six hours ago, see 0:16 (it comes later in the video without the submerged bit visible): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28BuoV6A7OU The Viking Tialfi has left Amsterdam, the Viking Alruna as of this minute is still in Basel. notamermaid

When I look at the webcams and videos on youtube I try to look at it with the fresh eye of a visitor or someone like you who saw this in bloom and/or good conditions. Again, I think it is best to come in spring rather than now... But of course I hope that the cruisers now are having a great time. I believe the Alruna and the Tialfi are sailing tonight, or, if I got the info on the Viking website wrong, tomorrow (4 January is the itinerary begin date on the website, not the sail away day or time). By the way, with the Tialfi now in Amsterdam is the Arosa Brava. She will return to Cologne after exploring the Low Countries. Oberwinter gauge is so close, 6cm to go to mark II. notamermaid

No ships moving at Koblenz: The level at Cologne is of course rising as well and there is not much room until a river traffic ban is issued there, 18cm to go. A webcam of the skyline: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/koeln-hyatt-regency-hotel.html notamermaid

Oberwinter gauge will most likely peak just below mark II, but it is close, very close. Oberwinter gauge is the yellow dot just South of Bad Honnef: So, a problem for the Alruna and the Tialfi? Not for the Alruna most likely but the Tialfi is facing the high levels in the Netherlands and the wave is coming towards her. Remember, high river levels cause landing stages to flood. Another docking day in the winter harbour at Cologne Niehl? notamermaid

Maxau as forecast has gone over the HMO mark (see post #1032) and is now at 654cm. No further rise of note forecast. Further downstream the situation, as you know, is different. Mainz, Bingen and Kaub are still rising but thankfully will stay under navigational flood mark II. Koblenz is still rising as well, the crucial flood mark II was reached at 3am. The rise has slowed down so that is good. The rise at Andernach gauge has also slowed so the authorities are saying this morning that the level should peak just below the crucial mark II. notamermaid

Just opposite England on the other side of the channel the area is inundated. Pas-de-Calais is seriously affected. The river Aa is seriously flooding and others are very high, too. This is from the French government website for the rivers, here the Northern part, https://www.vigicrues.gouv.fr/niv2-bassin.php?CdEntVigiCru=29: This video is astounding. I have stood in front of the town hall at Arques. A pleasant town known for its glass factory. I do not understand much of the commentary but I do not need to. https://www.francetvinfo.fr/meteo/inondations/inondations-dans-le-pas-de-calais-vu-du-ciel-un-departement-meconnaissable_6282639.html Talking of odd names, Aa looks weird, but it is an old Germanic root and is not that uncommon, especially when you include its variations. As I said, I have been to the area of the Aa river, when you cross it on a bridge the sign says L'Aa. I still find it looks odd after having seen it dozens of times. notamermaid

An interesting glimpse into American poetry and narrated at a lovely fireplace. Thank you. notamermaid

The river at Koblenz is basically on track with the forecast. Current figure is 631cm. The dreaded figure of 650cm appears in the forecast at 2am local time. It is now just after 8pm. Andernach will most likely peak just below its navigational flood mark II but it is close and we cannot exclude a turn for the worse. Same goes for Oberwinter (close to Bonn). notamermaid

This looks like a recent short video of Cesky Krumlov: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qyEKdlhMzcg notamermaid

Cochem. Water level higher than I had interpreted from the news reports yesterday. River in town, but not completely flooding the old town. They have seen worse over the years. They are prepared, as the reporter says: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/cochem-hochwasser-mosel-vorbereitungen-100.html notamermaid

By-weir, no never heard of that. Only know weir, not sure what it could be. Got a photo? notamermaid

The rivers are keeping me busy, but I need to keep the reporting short today. Here is what my country looks like, far too colourful, should be green: For that neighbouring country of ours, the Czech Republic, things are also not too good. To the left of Düsseldorf you can see the long line going North, that is the Maas (Meuse), now causing trouble for the Netherlands again. The Netherlands still also has to take on the water from our rivers, via the Rhine. And I have no idea how they cope around Hanover. notamermaid

Thank you for your kind words and thanks. Need to keep the reporting a bit shorter today. Yesterday I hinted at the concerns for Koblenz. That was based on the graph and forecast from the Rhineland-Palatinate authorities. Now even more in the full wave and concerns further confirmed. We will see a lot of flooding and the graph is now above the line for a flood that occurs every two years. The screenshot: This is locally an infrastructure problem, meaning embankments are getting impassable, car parks are closed and bus routes altered. For river traffic you can see the now almost inevitable. The ban from 650cm onwards is inevitable if the river follows the most likely forecast scenario. Inevitably, Andernach not being far away the level there is also on navigational flood mark I and rising fast. A river traffic ban there is not clearly indicated. notamermaid