Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

Tragedy in Strasbourg, exasperation with the British in Brussels, my beloved island drifting ever further into a state of disarray, as one interviewee on BBC put it...

 

Glad to only have to deal with standard health problems and the usual stress before Christmas (although I am still somewhat annoyed with a colleague for packing it in when we are in desperate need of staff) I try to push aside the sombre thoughts about the state of this world.

 

I hope someone is still around to join me in festive spirit and like me enjoys this article by Deutsche Welle. And now, ladies and gentlemen, we proudly present a "parade" of Nikoläuse*: https://www.dw.com/en/why-st-nicholas-puts-candy-in-boots-and-stole-our-hearts/a-18889948

 

notamermaid

 

*plural for German (Sankt) Nikolaus - (Saint) Nicholas

 

[jpalbny]

Great pictures in the article! Thanks for posting.

[paia40]

A few weeks ago we were worried about the water levels on the Rhine

Today it is about the Stasbourg shooting last night at the Christmas Markets. We are speechless and saddened.

Our prayers go out to the victims and their families 

 

[TheKingD]

To Notamermaid, we are truly grateful to you for your valuable and wise perspective and for providing interesting tidbits about your part of the world.  We have enjoyed your posts throughout the summer, and we really appreciate the link to the article about our beloved Sankt Nikolaus.  We whole-heartedly join you in your festive spirit and we extend our heartiest best wishes that the warm traditions of Christmas will bring you happiness to last throughout the year. 

[notamermaid]

Accident on the Rhine narrowly avoided

 

The Johann Strauss had an engine failure yesterday and drifted towards a motorway bridge. Attempts to anchor the ship had failed, a few metres before the bridge two tank ships rescued the drifting Johann Strauss and pulled her into the nearby harbour at Bendorf. That is North of Koblenz. After repairs she was able to continue her journey. All passengers are safe.

 

The rescue operation was filmed and broadcast by the regional news: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/Zusammenprall-von-Hotelschiff-mit-Gueterschiff-Havarie-auf-dem-Rhein-bei-St,koblenz-havarie-gueterschiff-hotelschiff-100.html

 

The Rhine was closed to shipping during the operation.

 

Hopefully all river cruise ships, passengers and crews will end the season without incident or interruption now. As regards river levels it looks fine. Kaub is at a good level:

 

Just in case you are wondering, we are nowhere near flooding level, this would be when we get well over 400cm, indicated as M_I  = 460cm in the text frame above. That is just first flooding level, not river closure.

 

notamermaid

 

[RedTexGal]

Goodmorning.. on the Emily Bronte cruising towards Rüdesheim!! Beautiful day .. little snow and overcast. No diveation from itinerary. Rhine is just lovely. Hope all have as equally of a wonderful day as I am having!!

[kimshoes]

We are currently on the Viking Eir sailing from Basel to Amsterdam. The captain said it was the first trip in months that had no ship swaps or long bus rides. 

We woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland in Kehl and had a lovely day in Strasbourg. There was definitely an increase in armed police throughout the area and we felt quite safe. 

[notamermaid]

Just returned from a short trip to my beloved island in the North Sea, having been bombarded by Brexit issues on telly, falling down the stairs with my body brutally reminding me that I have a coccyx and muscles that can hurt I am taking things easy during the mad rush of shopping before Christmas. I am also spreading a cold mercilessly around my workplace and among the family.

 

No problem at all, life is good and hope is eternally there in my mind for more peace and understanding in the world.

 

One way to achieve a bit more understanding and spreading good cheer is by joining in with other people's happiness across religious boundaries: https://www.dw.com/en/an-indians-first-german-christmas-market/a-46465911

 

With that and a photo of the Christmas tree in the Hall at Hever Castle in England I leave you and wish you all a

 

Merry Christmas

 

notamermaid

 

[Babcia7]

Merry Christmas to you too!  Thanks for sharing the picture of the Christmas tree and the article about the wonders and joys of Christmas markets. Visiting several Christmas markets in Austria and Germany a few years ago with family (and having a few close encounters with Krampus) remains a highlight of all my travel experience memories! Hope your cold is better.  Looking forward to a healthy new year.

[azbirdmom]

Merry Christmas to you, notamermaid, and thanks so much for all of the invaluable information you have provided all year.  Hope you feel better soon.

[djh1959]

Merry Christmas to you Notamermaid.  You have given me so much information this year, as we get ready for our first ever river cruise in October, so thank you.
We are lucky enough to be leaving the heat of Australia on Boxing Day to visit that island in the North Sea.  We can't wait to get there and the cold weather, before ten days in France.
Hope to hear more from you next year.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I will join the chorus of thanks, and am looking forward to your 2019 threads [but hoping that there is much less weather drama for you to post about! ]

[G.M.T.]

As notamermaid started the 2018 River Tips and Infomation threads, she should have the honour of starting the 2019 for the Rhine, Danube and Elbe threads.

 

Merry Christmas.

[steamboats]

Not so good news for the end of the years... After months of low water the Rhine river is expecting a high water due to the heavy rainfalls in the South. Warnings are out.

 

Notamermaid, get well soon!

 

Have a wonderful Christmas!

 

steamboats

[feelincruisey]

Merry Christmas Notamermaid, and get well soon! Thanks for your great river knowledge and hard work on keeping river cruisers informed. Happy holidays to all the river cruisers. Here's a picture of St Nicholas and all his snow domes from the huge Christmas shop in Rothenburg, taken when I was on my river cruise at Easter (it's pretty much Christmas all year in Rothenburg, it seems).

[Intlxpatr]

23 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Just returned from a short trip to my beloved island in the North Sea, having been bombarded by Brexit issues on telly, falling down the stairs with my body brutally reminding me that I have a coccyx and muscles that can hurt I am taking things easy during the mad rush of shopping before Christmas. I am also spreading a cold mercilessly around my workplace and among the family.

 

No problem at all, life is good and hope is eternally there in my mind for more peace and understanding in the world.

 

One way to achieve a bit more understanding and spreading good cheer is by joining in with other people's happiness across religious boundaries: https://www.dw.com/en/an-indians-first-german-christmas-market/a-46465911

 

With that and a photo of the Christmas tree in the Hall at Hever Castle in England I leave you and wish you all a

 

Merry Christmas

 

notamermaid

 

Does this thread break any kind of record for length or number of responses? In addition to all the timely and relevant information you provided, Notamermaid, you created an engaged online community who were breathlessly waiting the next post. The drama of not knowing whether or not the trip would go, or how it would be implemented kept us glued to the thread. Well done! Hope you are well. Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, Good Will to Mankind.

[notamermaid]

Hello everyone,

 

I have dug my way out of a pile of wrapping paper and re-emerge with coccyx still playing up. Oh well, not too bad. Others have had nastier surprises and experiences, like the two crew members who just managed to get off a ship before it sank and is now submerged in Cologne Niehl harbour. Quite literally their ship sank before the fire brigades' eyes on Christmas Day: http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/ga-english/Dutch-party-ship-sinks-in-Cologne-article4006949.html

 

I checked on marinetraffic and it appears to be the "Pure Liner 2" of 63m (the figure was given in another report). She was tied to the "Pureliner" at 64.5m; she can be seen next to the submerged vessel in the photo. Unfortunately, the party ship was fully booked for a New Year's Eve event. The Dutch organizer is reported to be trying to get another ship so that the event can go ahead.

 

On a happier note (yes, I know, but could not resist) a famous song celebrated its 200th birthday on Christmas Eve. Silent Night: https://www.dw.com/en/celebrating-200-years-of-silent-night/a-45715825

 

steamboats,

Thank you for your wishes. We do indeed have high water levels and Maxau is on first level flooding status, but it is very mild flooding. There are no major problems with shipping and levels are already falling again in the Upper and Middle Rhine valley. It will quickly fade into normality. 23rd December saw the 25th anniversary of the "Weihnachtshochwasser" of 1993 I reported about in post #25. That was flooding of the kind that nobody wants to ever experience again. Ironically, we can somewhat thank the low river levels of the beginning of December for leaving enough room for rain to give us only mild flooding this winter so far. What January will bring, who knows. Hopefully a bit of snow. We have had hardly any to speak of yet in the valley (the hills got a bit more).

 

Bye for now.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A piece of the Rhine

 

I normally only give you info about and report on things and events directly on the Rhine or accessible for river cruisers. I would like to make an exception. The header to this post is also the title of a new exhibition as part of the commemoration/celebration of 100 years of American/Rhineland connections. It started with the occupation following the end of WWI - the focus of this exhibition - and has continued to this day with anything from currently stationed troops to friendships forged. The exhibition is a bit out of the way in a small town in the Westerwald hills called Hachenburg. Apart from the museum that with its permanent exhibition shows life in the region, the town is also a bit of a small gem worth exploring for a few hours. The museum website is only in German but the exhibition is bi-lingual: https://www.landschaftsmuseum-westerwald.de/service/presseartikel/199-sonderausstellung-a-piece-of-the-rhine.html

 

So, if you feel like venturing out on a land trip you could head into the hills.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Thank you everyone for their good wishes, comments and encouragement over the last year and especially in the last few days. What a year it has been. I am not a friend of the TV shows with the title "looking back on 2018" or whatever the broadcasters come up with. It usually makes for dramatic, gloomy watching and the bad images tend to stick longer than the good images. But photo galleries in a mild form I am okay with. As weather has concerned us all in various ways and degrees here on CC over the past year I give you a short look at the weather in Rhineland-Palatinate, one photo per month. It starts with flooding and ends with... flooding: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/Wetterbilanz-fuer-2018-Rheinland-Pfalz-knackte-den-Waermerekord,wetterbilanz-100.html

 

And in between? We all know, drought and low water levels. The article's text tells us that Germany got a new mean high temperature this year and Rhineland-Palatinate even topped that with its own new record. We have a mild climate here in the West of the country... For Germany overall, as predicted in November, 2018 enters the statistics as being the warmest and sunniest year ever recorded (it will become official only at the beginning of next year) with all months from April to November having been too warm, too dry and too sunny. And 2019? Only one thing is certain: we start into the new year with too low a water table. There is still not enough ground water, i.e. it has not rained enough to fill reservoirs and and saturate the soil. As regards the rivers anything is possible apart from "Neujahrshochwasser" (flooding on New Year's Day).

 

Do you have the feeling sometimes that no matter what you do and how much benign fun (usually) it is there is always a spoil-sport around? This is the feeling I got when I heard on the news that New Year's Eve fireworks are an enormous source of fine dust in the air. It may be "fine dust overkill" but it only lasts one hour. My goodness, let us enjoy it and if you cannot bear it blur your environmental vision with champagne. Conscience, commitment and reasoning is for 2 January, after the mind is free of the fuzziness of food, drink (mostly) and laughter.

 

Laughter, that brings me to that odd German tradition of watching a black-and-white "British" television comedy sketch (recorded in Germany) in English with no dubbing or subtitles. Yup, who ever claimed the Germans have no sense of humour?! Here are some more New Year's Eve traditions in Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/10-german-traditions-on-new-years-eve/a-36648029

 

With that I leave you and hope to see you all again in good health in 2019. 🎆 🍾

 

notamermaid

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by notamermaid
grammar

[Intlxpatr]

8 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you everyone for their good wishes, comments and encouragement over the last year and especially in the last few days. What a year it has been. I am not a friend of the TV shows with the title "looking back on 2018" or whatever the broadcasters come up with. It usually makes for dramatic, gloomy watching and the bad images tend to stick longer than the good images. But photo galleries in a mild form I am okay with. As weather has concerned us all in various ways and degrees here on CC over the past year I give you a short look at the weather in Rhineland-Palatinate, one photo per month. It starts with flooding and ends with... flooding: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/Wetterbilanz-fuer-2018-Rheinland-Pfalz-knackte-den-Waermerekord,wetterbilanz-100.html

 

And in between? We all know, drought and low water levels. The article's text tells us that Germany got a new mean high temperature this year and Rhineland-Palatinate even topped that with its own new record. We have a mild climate here in the West of the country... For Germany overall, as predicted in November, 2018 enters the statistics as being the warmest and sunniest year ever recorded (it will become official only at the beginning of next year) with all months from April to November having been too warm, too dry and too sunny. And 2019? Only one thing is certain: we start into the new year with too low a water table. There is still not enough ground water, i.e. it has not rained enough to fill reservoirs and and saturate the soil. As regards the rivers anything is possible apart from "Neujahrshochwasser" (flooding on New Year's Day).

 

Do you have the feeling sometimes that no matter what you do and how much benign fun (usually) it is there is always a spoil-sport around? This is the feeling I got when I heard on the news that New Year's Eve fireworks are an enormous source of fine dust in the air. It may be "fine dust overkill" but it only lasts one hour. My goodness, let us enjoy it and if you cannot bear it blur your environmental vision with champagne. Conscience, commitment and reasoning is for 2 January, after the mind is free of the fuzziness of food, drink (mostly) and laughter.

 

Laughter, that brings me to that odd German tradition of watching a black-and-white "British" television comedy sketch (recorded in Germany) in English with no dubbing or subtitles. Yup, who ever claimed the Germans have no sense of humour?! Here are some more New Year's Eve traditions in Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/10-german-traditions-on-new-years-eve/a-36648029

 

With that I leave you and hope to see you all again in good health in 2019. 🎆 🍾

 

notamermaid

 

Happy New Year, Notamermaid. 

 

I always remember, living in Germany, my parents coming home from New Year's parties, telling us about a live piglet being brought around, and everyone petting the piglet for good luck. Even this last trip, here and there I saw little pig ornaments with a gold coin in their mouths. 

[Maria0681]

The Rhine is perhaps the most dependable river when it comes to being able to continue navigation due to low water. I felt the boat scraping the bottom of the Rhine in Rudesheim in November of 2015. and one more thing I saw lowest level of the Rhine in November of 2015.

[basenji56]

Is there a thread for 2019 Rhine water levels?

 

[jpalbny]

50 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Is there a thread for 2019 Rhine water levels?

 

 

Sure thing! Right here.