Rhine water levels 2019 and similar topics

[sbjornda]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Well, there is Maria Laach and its lake...

We have (unfelt by humans) earthquakes on a regular basis and the lake bubbles: Volcano in Germany recharging with new magma

 

I don't suppose this vulcanism is related at all to the Andernach Geyser? Looks like Andernach is quite the busy place, geographically speaking.

 

Best regards,

Sterling

 

[OzNaiNai]

17 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Turbulent weather on the Rhine

 

It is another one of those weather patterns when it sounds like "everything apart from a volcanic eruption is possible" as I jokingly replied earlier in the thread to sbjornda. Well, there is Maria Laach and its lake...

We have (unfelt by humans) earthquakes on a regular basis and the lake bubbles: Volcano in Germany recharging with new magma

 

 

Wow, you are getting some mixed weather. Thanks for the updates, my Basel-Amsterdam Cruise is in 2wks.

 

re earthquake, I experienced earthquakes on my last 2 holidays, so happy to skip the experience this time.

 

last year on our 2nd day in Osaka, they had a 6.5 earthquake, that was my 2nd earthquake as on my previous trip to Japan, I was in Kobe when it was the epicentre of a 6.7 earthquake.

[notamermaid]

During yesterday afternoon my area moved one level up and became a level 3 zone. We had storm well into the night and it is still windy. We did not get the snow that was forecast, it is a little too warm, but the higher valleys and hills - areas of over 100m altitude - had some snow. I could see some white hills in the distance during shopping this morning. Not much damage in my immediate vicinity apart from a few big branches here and there having broken off of trees.

 

This is what has happened in other parts of the Rhineland and beyond: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-storms-halt-trains-disrupt-motorways-aviation/a-47844905

 

The weather will continue to be unsettled and the next major storm is forecast to hit the Rhineland on Wednesday.

 

Will get back to the topics of volcanoes and earthquakes shortly.

 

notamermaid

 

[USCAdventurer]

notamermaid,

thanks for all your wonderful posts here.  i really enjoy reading them all.

 

i am booked on a crystal rhine river cruise which leaves basel on november 3, 2019.  it will be my first ever river cruise and i'm really excited about it and seeing all the cities and sights along the way.  i just received an email from crystal saying they are changing our itinerary.  it says " we have opted to replace the port of Karlsruhe, Germany with the port of Germersheim"  does this have something to do with low water levels?  and how do they know so far in advance about this?  what do you think?

 

 

[Fourmiler]

Wow.  That is unbelievable.  I wonder how common tornadoes are in Europe?  Glad you are safe notamermaid.

[notamermaid]

Fourmiler,

Thank you for your concern about my welfare. Here in the valley I did not find it too bad and the only thing I saw flying around was birds and some discarded newspapers. I have just talked to a colleague who confirmed that it was worse in the more hilly part where she lives and they had quite a bit of snow.

Tornadoes, hmm, don't know about Europe, they are not that common in Germany but we do get them certainly. Hurricane-force winds happen every year. The intensity and what area they cover varies. Last September the storm "Fabienne" caused a bit more widespread damage.

 

USC Adventurer,

Thank you for your kind words. An interesting email from Crystal.  Will get back to you about it.

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: Have seen the first river cruise ships on marinetraffic.com today leaving the harbour at Cologne. Not sure if any had left on previous days, but I got a bit excited, as it sure indicates it will not be long now before the season starts in earnest ☺️.

Edited March 11, 2019 by notamermaid
Added PS

[notamermaid]

On 3/10/2019 at 4:59 PM, sbjornda said:

 

I don't suppose this vulcanism is related at all to the Andernach Geyser? Looks like Andernach is quite the busy place, geographically speaking.

 

Best regards,

Sterling

 

The Geyser in Andernach is part of the volcanism in the Eifel and Andernach is the Eastern end of that region of volcanic activity. This cold-water geyser is fed by the natural CO2 in the ground, i.e. the same bubbles that come out of the ground in the lake. The geyser is artificially bound (a borehole that can be closed), though, nevertheless the action is entirely natural. I have only seen the spectacle from a distance so far as I have not got round to booking a boat trip there, it is in a nature reserve, only accessible by organized boat tour.

 

This is the Volcanic Eifel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_Eifel

 

In geological terms those volcanoes are young and only recently extinct as opposed to the Kaiserstuhl hills East-Northeast of Breisach for example. From what I have heard, geologists find the Eifel very interesting, the area is famous internationally among scientists.

 

The volcanism in that region and the occurence of earthquakes along the weaknesses in the Earth's crust are directly connected.

 

On 3/11/2019 at 5:54 AM, OzNaiNai said:

 

Wow, you are getting some mixed weather. Thanks for the updates, my Basel-Amsterdam Cruise is in 2wks.

 

re earthquake, I experienced earthquakes on my last 2 holidays, so happy to skip the experience this time.

 

last year on our 2nd day in Osaka, they had a 6.5 earthquake, that was my 2nd earthquake as on my previous trip to Japan, I was in Kobe when it was the epicentre of a 6.7 earthquake.

 

Scary! I can certainly understand that you do not want to experience another earthquake. I can relate a little, the earthquake I experienced was milder but it scared me to the bone nevertheless. The earthquake of 13 April 1992 became known as the Roermond earthquake after a small town in the Netherlands, North of Aachen, as that was the epicentre. It measured 5.9 and was quite enough for all of us here, thank you. Do not need anything bigger than that ever... touch wood. The Rhineland people were woken up at 3.20am to their houses shaking, toppling chimneys, etc. In my home the CDs on the shelf fell off and when I got to my office in Bonn there was a newly-formed crack in the wall. A considerable amount of old houses and churches suffered damage. It had been the worst in the area since 1756.

 

All this is due to a rift, the thinning of the Earth's crust deep down and therefore a weakness along which pressure of the tectonic plates moving is felt more than elsewhere. This is the Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben, i.e. Basel to Frankfurt according to wikipedia. Further North pressure causes the most earthquakes to occur around Aachen, West of Cologne. Here is a map: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberrheinische_Tiefebene#/media/File:Erdbebenzonen.png

Apparently, one typical scenario is the African plate hitting the Eurasian plate and the pressure is put on the Alps and taken further along the Rhine valley.

 

So much for geology theory today and now onto practical exercise : when you are in Cologne and the guide happens to look to be over 35 years old ask him or her how they experienced the earthquake of 1992. According to a newspaper article from Bonn some stone structures fell off Cologne Cathedral, as well.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Texas Tillie]

On 3/11/2019 at 9:59 AM, USC Adventurer said:

notamermaid,

thanks for all your wonderful posts here.  i really enjoy reading them all.

 

i am booked on a crystal rhine river cruise which leaves basel on november 3, 2019.  it will be my first ever river cruise and i'm really excited about it and seeing all the cities and sights along the way.  i just received an email from crystal saying they are changing our itinerary.  it says " we have opted to replace the port of Karlsruhe, Germany with the port of Germersheim"  does this have something to do with low water levels?  and how do they know so far in advance about this?  what do you think?

 

 

 

I think Crystal has changed this for all their cruises, probably something to do with the docking location. I got the same notice for my Crystal Bach back to back (Amsterdam - Basel - Amsterdam) this April/May.

[notamermaid]

On 3/11/2019 at 3:59 PM, USC Adventurer said:

notamermaid,

thanks for all your wonderful posts here.  i really enjoy reading them all.

 

i am booked on a crystal rhine river cruise which leaves basel on november 3, 2019.  it will be my first ever river cruise and i'm really excited about it and seeing all the cities and sights along the way.  i just received an email from crystal saying they are changing our itinerary.  it says " we have opted to replace the port of Karlsruhe, Germany with the port of Germersheim"  does this have something to do with low water levels?  and how do they know so far in advance about this?  what do you think?

 

 

 

USCAdventurer,

it does seem to be just an operational change and I cannot find an obvious reason for it, I mean having a look around both ports on the map and scanning some relevant German sites. I do not think this will be a major change at all for your cruise. As far as I can ascertain Karlsruhe and Germersheim are just brief stops to drop off passengers to get to Heidelberg and some related excursions. On the road the ports are nearly equidistant to Heidelberg.

 

Like TexasTillie, I think convenience and logistical details are most likely the reason.

 

I do not think low water levels play a part. I will not rule it out fully as Ludwigshafen had a problem in the drought in autumn with their new landing stage. However, Karlsruhe is a long-established port for both local cruise and barge traffic, so such a connection seems very unlikely.

 

Other companies use Germersheim as a stop for the Heidelberg excursion and Crystal might just follow suit.

 

It would be interesting to find out what made them change as Karlsruhe has hardly ever been mentioned here on the board and it would be nice to get some info. If you speak to someone on the boat about it, please let us know.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[USCAdventurer]

Notamermaid,

Thanks for your research and response.  I did book an excursion to Heidelberg and they also said TBE excursion would be affected so I'm happy about that.

Thank you

[notamermaid]

On 3/11/2019 at 4:48 PM, Fourmiler said:

Wow.  That is unbelievable.  I wonder how common tornadoes are in Europe?  Glad you are safe notamermaid.

 

Well, a coincidence defying statistics or not, there was a tornado in the village of Roetgen, near Aachen, yesterday: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/roetgen-mutmasslicher-tornado-fegt-durch-eifel-gemeinde-daecher-abgedeckt-a-1257730.html

Another report said that the speed was 180km/h! As bad as it is, luckily only five people were injured.

 

The weather is still all over the place and nothing like those lovely ads on telly suggest. Oh well, it is only the middle of March, the 14th, o.k., I am being liberal with the date. Well, I promised to post the first river level figures around this time...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

With more and more ships leaving Cologne Niehl harbour and making their way upstream to Trier, Basel and Passau and beyond or downstream to Amsterdam, it is time to look at the river levels and the season ahead. First of all looking ahead, that does not work too well... In last year's drought misery many river cruisers had to learn the hard way that there is no way of predicting water levels more than a few days in advance. But we can look ahead from this point in time into April with very tentative predictions. So where are we?

 

It has been an uneventful winter with very little flooding, the Rhine river was not closed a single minute due to high levels, but the drought of last year has gone. There seems to be an overall consensus among experts that much of what was lost in Summer and Autumn has been replenished but every rain that falls is still very much welcome as we start into the season statistically on still low levels (for winter), especially as far as ground water is concerned. Rain, yes, we are having lots of it in this unsettled weather, with another front bringing rain and more storms over the next three days. The Upper Rhine valley is looking a bit brighter than the Middle Rhine valley. Just to remind everyone, rain that falls in the Moselle area and in the Lower Rhine does not help with that infamous low water point at Kaub. But that is for later in the year when there is a risk of drought. For now, the river is rising with the rainfall in the lower Alps and the Upper Rhine valley, quite substantially. This brings us to the risk of flooding. With the rising level there is a risk of mild flooding which would slow down river traffic. The weather will change next week with very little rain forecast. Unless we swing back to rainy weather after that, this bodes well for April as the river level will fall and be around the mean again. It makes for pleasant sailing. As I said, this is tentative, but at least we can rest assured that neither drought nor widespread flooding is coming soon.

 

So here they are, the river level figures: Maxau 519cm, Kaub 262cm, Koblenz 298cm. As of now, Maxau is forecast to rise to over 650cm (official mild flooding). At 620cm river traffic has to slow down. A closure of the river is not predicted. This high level is unlikely to last long as, I mentioned this above, the weather will change to fair next week.

 

The figures I post come from an official website of the federal state: https://www.pegelonline.wsv.de/gast/start

it links to the map on the right: https://www.pegelonline.wsv.de/gast/karte/standard

zoom in a little and move the mouse over the dots to give you the gauges and levels. Easy to follow along. But I will post the levels as well at varying intervals.

 

The same map as above is provided by Federal Institute of Hydrology with English caption, the data itself is in German: https://www.bafg.de/EN/06_Info_Service/01_WaterLevels/waterlevels_node.html

 

Such official websites exist for other European rivers, I linked to one in the thread on the Danube. While they may be in the respective country's language, they can have a sub page or another way to switch to English language and may thus provide relevant info in English as well. I find the Danube one from Hungary does it well.

 

That's it for today.

 

Happy sailing everyone.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

As forecast, we have mild flooding on the Rhine. The level at Maxau peaked at 718cm during the night and is falling again steadily. At the stations downstream the levels are still rising and are forecast to peak during the night or tomorrow (about Speyer to Koblenz).

 

Unsettled weather still but forecast to calm down on Tuesday and be more pleasant till Saturday, afternoon temperatures in the double digits in the valley. More rain forecast for next weekend.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[UB & AS]

Sandy (my wife) has been following your posts since we booked Avalon Imagery II for a Rhine cruise. She loves your posts and reads them to me daily! 

 

We are sailing from Amsterdam to Luxembourg in May. A major reason for booking this cruise is to visit my oldest brother's grave in the American Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg. We overnight in Remich and there is an excursion to Luxembourg City. Should it be easy to leave this excursion and visit the cemetery instead of the city tour? Any other advice for us?

 

Cheers,

 

Bill (and Sandy) 

[FuelScience]

32 minutes ago, UB & AS said:

We are sailing from Amsterdam to Luxembourg in May. A major reason for booking this cruise is to visit my oldest brother's grave in the American Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg. We overnight in Remich and there is an excursion to Luxembourg City. Should it be easy to leave this excursion and visit the cemetery instead of the city tour? Any other advice for us?

You didn't say whether you were going on to Paris with Avalon after the cruise. If you're not, you could just schedule an extra day in Luxembourg and see the cemetery on your own.

 

If you are going on to Paris, I think that it should still be doable. I would advise talking to the tour guide and finding out exactly when and where you should be to catch the bus back to the ship, and then getting a taxi to and from the cemetery. The cemetery's web site gives directions for getting there by bus, but it's a mile walk from the nearest bus stop to the cemetery. We did this trip with Avalon a couple of years ago, but we ended in Amsterdam. Hope you have a great trip. 

[UB & AS]

Thanks Fuel Science. Cruise ends in Remich so back to Luxembourg City the following morning for flight to Paris, Toronto and Vancouver. I suppose our options are to cab from Remich to the cemetery and back to the ship or go to Luxembourg City and cab to the cemetery. Looking for the most convenient option and perhaps see a bit of Luxembourg City as well. With recent knee replacement walking a mile to the cemetery is not a viable option.

 

Cheers, Bill

[FuelScience]

Cabs in Luxembourg are pretty pricey. Looking on line, it looks like around 28 euros one way from central Luxembourg City to the cemetery (8 km). Cab from the cemetery back to Remich would be around 60 euros (18 km). So rejoining the tour in Luxembourg City would be a more cost effective option. The tours we've taken of Luxembourg City focused on the old city. We were dropped off there and the buses moved outside the city where they could park and then returned to the central city to pick people up after the walking tour. 

[UB & AS]

Thanks for the info. Given the price of cruising, cab fare does not concern me much. On our most recent ocean cruises we have hailed a cab at the cruise terminal and negotiated a price for the day. Cab goes where we want to go, waits for us, gives us lots of commentary and gets us back to the ship. In South America having an air conditioned cab at our disposal is remembered long after the cab fare has been long forgotten. We have been amazed at people who spend many thousands on air fare and a cruise ship suite and then want to nickle and dime their shore experiences.

 

Happy Trails, Bill

[notamermaid]

15 hours ago, UB & AS said:

Sandy (my wife) has been following your posts since we booked Avalon Imagery II for a Rhine cruise. She loves your posts and reads them to me daily! 

 

We are sailing from Amsterdam to Luxembourg in May. A major reason for booking this cruise is to visit my oldest brother's grave in the American Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg. We overnight in Remich and there is an excursion to Luxembourg City. Should it be easy to leave this excursion and visit the cemetery instead of the city tour? Any other advice for us?

 

Cheers,

 

Bill (and Sandy) 

Hello Bill and Sandy,

That is so kind of you. You are making me blush. I am glad to be of help and being able to provide some interesting reads at the same time.

 

By the way, another post on the Eifel coming shortly. ☺️

 

FuelScience has already answered you in detail. Just to add my thoughts as you are happy to hire a cab and leave a bit of money with the driver, especially to ease walking. This is obviously a special day for you in Luxembourg, so I suggest getting the cab from Remich, perhaps via a short stop at Nennig Roman villa, to the cemetery and then having the driver drop you off in Luxembourg city centre (after a drive past the old buildings) near where you pick up the Avalon bus. Perhaps look into this pre-cruise via Luxembourg tourist sites to see if they offer something like that. Or the cruise director will assist you.

 

For more info on the Moselle please have a look at the thread on it (currently on page two of the board), including the Roman villa. For Trier, if you have problems walking: they offer trips through town with a small tourist train, leaving from the Porta Nigra.

 

I had a look at your itinerary. Avalon does not seem to offer a concert as an optional in Engers. That is a pity as it is a great venue. If you can, have a look at the Diana-Saal (the Great hall) in the palace. I hope you get there at the right time to enjoy the sunset.

 

Have a great trip.

 

notamermaid

 

[sharkster77]

@notamermaid, amazing reading.  When I think of areas with volcanic activity, the LAST place that comes to mind is Germany!!!  Thanks so much.

[notamermaid]

Thank you sharkster77,

 

yes, not that many people are aware of the many extinct volcanoes and the - in geological terms - relatively recent activity. Quite a few years ago I surprised and mildly frightened some British teenagers with it (imagine a bad grin hushing over my face). when I met them they told me they had on the previous day been to lake Laach. So I said to them: "oh, you walked along the rim of a volcano".

 

Here are some photos of the "eyes of the Eifel": https://www.eifel.info/en/nature/volcanicity-in-the-eifel/the-eifel-maars

The Weinfelder Maar is also called the Totenmaar, and, no surprise there, has a legend attached to it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weinfelder_Maar

 

But the Eifel is not all volcanoes and gloomy legends, it is quite a varied landscape and divided into several parts. Here is a map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eifel#/media/File:Eifel_-_Deutsche_Mittelgebirge,_Serie_A-de.png

The Vulkaneifel is only one part of it.

 

Here is a short video on the Eifel region, including Maria Laach: https://www.dw.com/en/eifel-half-timbered-homes-woods-and-maars/av-46736295

 

notamermaid

 

[UB & AS]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Hello Bill and Sandy,

 

FuelScience has already answered you in detail. Just to add my thoughts as you are happy to hire a cab and leave a bit of money with the driver, especially to ease walking. This is obviously a special day for you in Luxembourg, so I suggest getting the cab from Remich, perhaps via a short stop at Nennig Roman villa, to the cemetery and then having the driver drop you off in Luxembourg city centre (after a drive past the old buildings) near where you pick up the Avalon bus. Perhaps look into this pre-cruise via Luxembourg tourist sites to see if they offer something like that. Or the cruise director will assist you.

 

Have a great trip.

 

notamermaid

Thank you, notamermaid, for the advice. We will get a cab from the ship at Remich for the drive to Hamm and have the cab driver join us to take some photos and later drive us to Luxembourg City. The cost will be nothing of concern. My brother, General George Patton and over 5,000 other Americans paid the ultimate price to be at the American Military Cemetery.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Bill and Sandy

Edited March 19, 2019 by UB & AS

[notamermaid]

Spring is here, on the calendar and in the air! It is already sunny in my part of the valley at 10am, the daffodils are in full bloom in my backyard and more importantly for you all the river levels have gone down.

 

All German gauging stations report falling levels and traffic is returning to normal. Gauges have markers called M_I, from that figure and above ships have to slow down and sail close to the middle of the river. Quite a task in this heavy traffic! The Rhine is a very busy waterway.... The other day a barge scraped another barge because of a dead spot on its radar apparently. Happened near Rüdesheim. A minor incident, thankfully. But as I indicated, levels are below these markers.

 

There is much activity to be seen on marinetraffic.com Last night the Viking Idi turned into the Moselle for her first itinerary from Trier. I have caught a live glimpse of a couple of other ships of other companies and of course several "babies" have been christened.

 

Yesterday was International Happiness Day and the regional news was about to give suggestions for smiling and being a little happier, but I immediately thought I do not need those, I just think of the neighbour's cats. Daffodils and (later in the season) English bluebells work, as well. Or the new river cruising season starting and all those people enjoying themselves seeing the beautiful rivers.

 

I hope you all also find a reason to smile and make you happy every day.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[santoliston]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Spring is here, on the calendar and in the air! It is already sunny in my part of the valley at 10am, the daffodils are in full bloom in my backyard and more importantly for you all the river levels have gone down.

 

All German gauging stations report falling levels and traffic is returning to normal. Gauges have markers called M_I, from that figure and above ships have to slow down and sail close to the middle of the river. Quite a task in this heavy traffic! The Rhine is a very busy waterway.... The other day a barge scraped another barge because of a dead spot on its radar apparently. Happened near Rüdesheim. A minor incident, thankfully. But as I indicated, levels are below these markers.

 

There is much activity to be seen on marinetraffic.com Last night the Viking Idi turned into the Moselle for her first itinerary from Trier. I have caught a live glimpse of a couple of other ships of other companies and of course several "babies" have been christened.

 

Yesterday was International Happiness Day and the regional news was about to give suggestions for smiling and being a little happier, but I immediately thought I do not need those, I just think of the neighbour's cats. Daffodils and (later in the season) English bluebells work, as well. Or the new river cruising season starting and all those people enjoying themselves seeing the beautiful rivers.

 

I hope you all also find a reason to smile and make you happy every day.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your very uplifting post. It is good to see someone with an optimistic outlook.

[SodusCruiser]

Good evening notamermaid!

 

It is like seeing a good friend again!  We followed your posts and actually graphed the 3 river sites daily last summer and early fall, and ended up postponing our Rhine River Getaway.  We have rescheduled for May 1-8 with Viking on one of their new ships and have a couple days in Amsterdam at the end ~ and are getting very excited!  

 

Thank you for your travel details, and for monitoring for us the ever-changing levels of the Rhine River.   We owe you much thanks and praise!  Your posts are such an enjoyable read ….. 🙂

 

Warmly,

Laurie & Jeff