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Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics


notamermaid
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Basel being in Switzerland I am not familiar with observance of holidays and closures from first-hand knowledge. Perhaps a past cruiser can help. I cannot imagine restaurants being closed, though, as Basel is such a large town I am sure they will find something that suits their needs. Perhaps the tourist information centre (contact details at the bottom of the page) can help with specific questions: https://www.basel.com/en

 

notamermaid

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Basel being in Switzerland I am not familiar with observance of holidays and closures from first-hand knowledge. Perhaps a past cruiser can help. I cannot imagine restaurants being closed, though, as Basel is such a large town I am sure they will find something that suits their needs. Perhaps the tourist information centre (contact details at the bottom of the page) can help with specific questions: https://www.basel.com/en

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks! :) They fly today and already Lufthansa has a delay on their flight:rolleyes:.... that airline causes me the most grief.... so hopefully they will make it in time for dinner. I told them that their hotel concierge should be able to assist.

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Good idea, wednesday, about the hotel concierge, I am sure he or she will be able to assist.

 

The weather is certainly getting more pleasant. While it will still be cold in the mornings - take your gloves to outdoor tours if you are prone to cold hands - temperatures in the afternoon will be in the double digits and could well reach between 20 and 24 degrees in some parts of the valley next weekend. Some rain is forecast but not everyday in every part of the valley. The river level looks good well into April (meaning 12th to 13th), Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley is currently around the mean - well away from any problems with high or low.

 

Spring also brings Bonn (and a few other not so well-known places) a spectacle that is eagerly awaited by locals and photographers. Cherry tree blossoming: http://www.bonn-region.de/overv/cherry-blossom-festival.html They are the Japanese cherry blossom trees planted for decorative purposes and are really lovely. I shall venture out to a street not far from where I live that is almost as good as the street in Bonn, I should think...

 

If you happen to be on a cruise soon, perhaps find out locally if you might be able to catch such a sight, perhaps Strasbourg or Cologne or, indeed, Bonn. Of course, there might be some planted where you live. :)

 

notamermaid

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It is quiet in my part of the Rhine valley with people enjoying the Spring days, shopping for home and garden - the DIY shops are busy. Garden and Spring festivals are attracting crowds this weekend and it is certainly now very pleasant outside. Temperatures are forecast to rise to 23 or 24 degrees in parts of the valley today. The weather is looking very mixed during the coming week, with cooler days and rain, some thunderstorms could happen as well. General unsettled weather like we always expect it in April.

 

The river level is looking very good - sort of hovering around the (statistical) mean at the station in Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley. Looks fine till 16th April at least.

 

notamermaid

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Thanks for the updates. We are taking Viking from Amsterdam to Basel on Saturday so we will be eagerly watching for your posts. This is our first and we are looking forward to it.

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I find it a good site for easy-to-find information on European water levels, a lot of effort has obviously gone into compiling the site. For an overview of the general situation I would say this is really good. The problem is finding something better that covers Europe as a whole. I have not been succesful so far, but I found this site that you may want to have a look at and compare it to the one you posted: https://www.riverapp.net/?locale=en, I know nothing about it. For Germany and to give you my info on the Rhine I use the official federal or land government or water-related authorities' websites. They are elwis, pegelonline and hochwasserportal. They provide me with figures that I have learnt to relate to the situation I see and hear on the news. They are very reliable for showing flooding in general terms, but cannot reflect local things like a very low bridge, like in Passau on the Danube. In low water situations those sites fail when the water gets so low that the captain of a ship decides he will not attempt to sail a certain stretch of river. However, the sites can indicate that a river is getting close to such situations happening.

 

It would be interesting to hear from river cruisers who have used either site - or both sites - and related it to their situation on the river, and possibly the situations when the site could not help.

 

Thank you for posting the site and your question.

 

Are you going on a river cruise?

 

notamermaid

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It is a pleasant weekend in the Middle Rhine valley with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. The foliage is getting greener and greener. Budding trees and blossoming tulips are all around in parks and countryside. The river level at Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley has fallen below the mean. This means that the level looks comfortable for sailing for quite a few days, officially until 22 April but as it is not raining substantially, probably longer than that. It could fall further possibly showing up as a bit on the low side on some charts but it will not pose any problems soon.

 

notamermaid

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It is a pleasant weekend in the Middle Rhine valley with lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. The foliage is getting greener and greener. Budding trees and blossoming tulips are all around in parks and countryside. The river level at Maxau in the Upper Rhine valley has fallen below the mean. This means that the level looks comfortable for sailing for quite a few days, officially until 22 April but as it is not raining substantially, probably longer than that. It could fall further possibly showing up as a bit on the low side on some charts but it will not pose any problems soon.

 

notamermaid

Just wondering what the weather will be like at the first week in may, we are doing a river cruise from Prague thru to London just wondering if we pack for heat or cold we come from australia so it will be getting cooler here

 

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Hello aussiecruiselover67,

 

temperatures are rising and in May mornings will generally be warmer than they are now, but afternoon temperatures will be unusually high this week, falling again next week to more normal figures for April, so this week is not the norm. To give you an idea of what I mean have a look at this graph of Mainz from a German website: https://www.wetteronline.de/wetter/mainz On the right is the graph for 14 days, the main part of the page shows the four day forecast. You can change that to 8 days or 16 days if you like. Where it says Das Wetter in... at the top of the page you can put in a town of your choice (you might need to put in the German town names, i.e. Prag, etc. if English spellings do not work). You will go through several microclimates on your journey and will probably encounter warm and cool days with little or much rain, seeing that the journey is quite long (16 days?). There should be very few days with night frost, though, if any, as I said, May is mild and you will not be in the high hills, seeing that you are not going to Switzerland.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

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After the heatwave of last week we are sort of looking forward to cooler temperatures more typical of April. And rain! Thunderstorms are forecast which hopefully will not bring torrential rain. The river level is at the mean mark at Maxau so perfect for sailing right now and stations further downstream also show comfortable levels.

 

notamermaid

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It is warm and sunny along the Rhine valley, a little untypical of April, with less rain than I am used to in my area. But this also results in comfortable water levels, perfect for sailing. The station at Maxau still shows figures around the mean and will do so at least until 6 May. But the coming week will bring lower temperatures and more rain in some areas, yet this does not have much affect on the water level.

 

On the subject of travel and ideas: I found an article that statistically shows how popular Switzerland has become as a tourist destination for North American travellers. Part of the popularity the country owes to us river cruising fans! So here is some reading, perhaps with a few suggestions for pre- and post-cruise days outside of Basel that some of you might useful: https://www.travelpulse.com/articles/destinations/swiss-enchantments-attracting-american-travelers.html

 

And remember, the Rhine is only accessible with river cruise ships up to Basel (or from Basel, if you look downstream) but it flows through Switzerland for some kilometres before it reaches Basel. The Rhine Falls as well as the surrounding countryside are worth exploring. :)

 

http://www.rheinfall.ch/en/

 

notamermaid

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It has certainly cooled down and even some snow is forecast for the high hills during the coming night. This is not so uncommon and they say around here that frost can still harm your plants so people generally put out the more delicate potted plants into their gardens only after the 15th of May.

 

The "fireworks season" has started - a term not coined by me but by clever marketing people - in the Middle Rhine valley. It is a trademarked (!) handful of events called Rhine in Flames (please imagine the appropriate icon after this, I do not know how to get this on my keyboard) scheduled from May to September in the region from Bingen (Upper Middle Rhine valley) to Bonn (Lower Middle Rhine valley). Here they are: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/home_gb.html These are not just fireworks but major events drawing massive crowds of thousands of people :eek: with coaches arriving from all over Germany and German river cruise ships arranging special itineraries around the dates. If you wanted to see these events for yourself you could see if a river cruise fits in with those dates. But be aware that traffic on the river is suspended during such an event (for a few hours) and your ship might not be part of the ships parade but docked somewhere along the way.

 

Excursion boats for such an event are often fully booked a year in advance!

 

The first one is coming up on 5 May in Bonn.

 

notamermaid

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We enjoyed a splendidly warm weekend in the Rhine valley and the high temperatures (up to 29 degrees Celsius maximum) will continue until tommorrow. Inevitably thunderstorms will follow, on Thursday, cooling us all down. A bit of rain will be good, it is just that it sometimes comes down too plentiful in one go. The dry and slightly windy conditions mean that pollen is everywhere covering the roads and cars in a fine layer of yellow (where the respective trees are near). An unhappy scenario for hayfever sufferers. But it also shows us how lovely and mild the valley in comparison to other parts of the countries having the Rhine as their border or flowing through it is and one can understand that the Romans loved it. Which brings me (I admit, slightly awkwardly) to

 

Borders... part 1

 

The Roman border separating the "civilized" world from the Barbarian world to the East has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site for quite a few years now. It is a border through many countries spanning Europe, the most northern part being Hadrian's Wall in the North of England. The so-called Limes is the border running through Germany. But not all of it is inscribed on the list yet. The German UNESCO Commission has put the northern stretch running from Bad Breisig - which you pass on a Rhine cruise between Koblenz and Bonn - to Katwijk in the Netherlands on their proposal list: http://www.dw.com/en/rhine-border-of-the-roman-empire-strives-for-world-heritage-status/a-43616332 The border nicknamed the "wet Limes" includes such important places as Cologne and Xanten.

 

After I have done some more research I will decide if Bad Breisig is "eligible" to be included in my series "Beyond the standard ports..." - a separate thread now -, but Xanten will definitely be entered.

 

River levels are good, well into the middle of May, currently around the mean or a little below it.

 

notamermaid

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We enjoyed a splendidly warm weekend in the Rhine valley and the high temperatures (up to 29 degrees Celsius maximum) will continue until tommorrow. Inevitably thunderstorms will follow, on Thursday, cooling us all down. A bit of rain will be good, it is just that it sometimes comes down too plentiful in one go. The dry and slightly windy conditions mean that pollen is everywhere covering the roads and cars in a fine layer of yellow (where the respective trees are near). An unhappy scenario for hayfever sufferers. But it also shows us how lovely and mild the valley in comparison to other parts of the countries having the Rhine as their border or flowing through it is and one can understand that the Romans loved it.

 

notamermaid

 

We fly out tomorrow for our Rhine cruise on Saturday. The forecast for weather is looking good temps for touring, bit of cloud, but that's ok. I never thought of hayfever (not for me, but my DH suffers), hope he will be ok.

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Hello Daisi,

 

so your holiday is here now. :) Doesn't time fly? I remember you first mentioning the cruise some time last year. The Avalon Imagery II is a fine ship (judging from the outside, I did not have the privilege to sail on her or take a short glimpse of the interior when she was christened in Engers two years ago). Hope your DH will not suffer much, the rain in the next few days could help to reduce the pollen count.

 

The spring flowers and trees - the horse chestnuts are particularly adorned with blossoms right now - are a lovely sight. I am sure you will have a great time.

 

notamermaid

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Thanks notamermaid... yep, it's been a lot of planning & research, but no matter what we end up with I'm sure we will come back with special memories. I am looking forward to seeing all the blossoms, we have had a very late spring here ending with an ice & snow storm 3 weeks ago....now we are finally getting green grass and the leaves are starting to pop. We will come home to a very different "world" than what we leave, as flowers & leaves will probably be all out when we do. Crossing the fingers that the weather holds and water levels are fine....

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Buildings are bought and sold minute after minute around the world, usually with little more than a note in the respective paper or estate agent shop window display. But occasionally a pending sale raises more than the ordinary interest and makes the headlines around the world because the building itself is, well not ordinary! One such building is coming up for sale, up for auction to be precise and if you have always wanted to own a piece of history here is your chance, but hurry, you have just under nine days left to consider:

 

Remagen bridge towers up for sale

 

The towers of the bridge destroyed at the end of WWII in Remagen house a small museum but the towers on the other side, outside the town of Erpel, at the foot of the Erpeler Ley (the rock through which the railway tunnel led to the town) is being auctioned by the owner, the "Federal Railway Property Fund": http://www.dw.com/en/germany-famous-wwii-remagen-bridge-towers-up-for-sale/a-43692621

 

Water levels are due to rise over the next three days but will stay close to the mean. Still looking perfect for sailing until 17th May. Which does not mean that it will get worse after that, just that I shall not report further into the future than the graph on the website predicts the figures...

 

notamermaid

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It is Mother's Day today in Germany and as luck would have it, in most of the Rhine valley, even worse weather than on Father's Day, which was Ascending Day this past Thursday, is spoiling the fun a bit. Thunderstorms have hit the valley during the night and will continue to do so during the day. The heavy rain could cause damage through soil being washed away and trees falling. There is even a warning for potential damage to infrastructure. It is certainly raining heavily where I live. But the East of Germany is bathed in sunshine. Must be lovely sailing on the Elbe right now.

 

 

This will not affect the water levels as much as one might think as the situation is not too bad near the Alps and the situation will ease during this coming night taking the excess rain quickly downstream. It will certainly rise but not to critical levels. Isolated thunderstorms will happen Monday to Wednesday again, though. Sounds like the type of weather we sometimes get and "Wetterwand" happens. It literally means it rains in one village and not the other with a dividing line that you can almost grasp.

 

 

On the subject of the Remagen bridge: it came across in an interview with an American on Deutsche Welle as if the buyer could tear down the bridge towers. Noone is allowed to tear the structure down, it is protected under the laws for the preservation of historic buildings in Germany, what we call "Denkmalschutz". Alterations possible will be very limited and strictly observed by the authorities.

 

 

notamermaid

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Cruisin Kay D,

 

 

the Rhone. I am not too familiar with that river but I have been to the area on a land trip. I very much enjoyed it. The Roman history is everywhere and is stunning, especially the Pont du Gard (a bridge). Many have been on a river cruise on that river, some past cruisers have posted here on CC or asked specific questions. I highly recommend looking at past pages and do consider a river cruise on that river!

 

 

notamermaid

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It has got cooler again and the wind is somewhat unpleasant, making it feel a bit more like end of April than middle of May. The river levels have risen but are not close to flooding status. It looks fine, according to the predictions, until 25th May (and I dare say it would take buckets of rain upstream from Strasbourg to get us any where near to flooding for a few days after that). Fingers crossed it will rain evenly, regularly but not too often, throughout the valley in May and June. That would prevent flooding and give us enough water for Summer. Oh well, we will just need to wait and see what nature has in store for us.

 

 

To a man-made structure that is loaded with politics and I dare say quite some emotion:

 

 

Controversial landmark disappears from Rhine valley

 

The nuclear power station at Mülheim-Kärlich, North of Koblenz, was decommissioned in 1988 after a long legal battle which showed a mistake in the construction planning process. During its "life" the power station has only properly produced electricity for a short time. Political changes regarding nuclear energy gave the idea of a nuclear power station at that site the final blow. A bit short, but here is the wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BClheim-K%C3%A4rlich_Nuclear_Power_Plant

 

 

Now the cooling tower will be dismantled. Work has started this week and from next week on special machinery will take the tower down over the course of several months. The tower is 162m high, higher than Cologne Cathedral, and in the following small photo in the text it appears to dwarf the local church of the small town: http://www.tageblatt.lu/headlines/muelheim-kaerlich-so-schwierig-ist-es-ein-akw-abzureissen/ Do not worry, the tower is not as close to the church as the large photo suggests! Yet it has been a sight of much worry and many, many people celebrated when the final decision from the court was published.

 

 

The dismantling has prompted locals in the lower middle Rhine valley as well as politicians to campaign for incorporating the valley from (just beyond) Koblenz to Bonn into the World Heritage Site that is the upper middle Rhine valley. After all, the mix of castles, travel, culture and an area shaped by its inhabitants, with vineyards adourning the hills does not stop at Deutsches Eck! To which I can only add that the first Rhine valley tourists came from the North (i.e. Cologne and Bonn) anyway and made their way upstream to Koblenz...

 

 

notamermaid

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Hello Daisi,

 

 

it was a tornado of the milder type and hit Viersen, that is west of Düsseldorf. Two people were injured. Main damage was roof tiles that had been blown off roofs and uprooted trees. One small caravan landed in a neighbouring garden. Quite scary to watch, there is a youtube video somewhere, I watched a weather report video.

 

 

Tornados are still a rare occurrence in Germany but are apparently getting more frequent (whatever that means in figures).

 

 

The temperatures are rising again and are giving us a pleasant Whitsuntide weekend, we have two days here, Sunday as a public holiday and tomorrow (Monday) as well.

 

 

Water levels had risen a little but will fall again to "hovering" around the mean water level for the rest of May from what it looks like, i.e. very pleasant for sailing indeed.

 

 

notamermaid

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