Rhine water levels 2020 and similar topics

jeb_bud · February 1, 2020

Thanks for starting a 2020 thread, Notamermaid. We cruised Amsterdam to Basel via the Mosel last October. I found the posts on the 2019 thread very useful as I prepared for the cruise.

October was cool and sometimes raining but the cruise was still very enjoyable. There was some good autumn color in the vineyards and some trees, but more green leaves than we were hoping for.

We don't have a river cruise planned for this year but thinking about 2021. In the meantime I will travel vicariously on Cruise Critic.

notamermaid · February 2, 2020

On 2/1/2020 at 1:05 AM, jeb_bud said:

Thanks for starting a 2020 thread, Notamermaid. We cruised Amsterdam to Basel via the Mosel last October. I found the posts on the 2019 thread very useful as I prepared for the cruise.

Thank you jeb_bud. Good to read you found the thread info useful. 2021, what river might it be? In Europe? The exotic places in Asia certainly have their appeal, but I myself am much intrigued by the possibility of sailing on a river towards the Baltic with Viva Cruises or CroisiEurope. After nearly seven years I am still just "window shopping" as time (work), health or money so far have prevented another river cruise.

Have fun travelling on Cruise Critic and who knows, we might in a few months read that you have booked something for next year...

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 2, 2020

Let us travel a bit down the river and take a turn onto one of the canals, eventually hitting Ghent. Although, on a river cruise you might take an excursion by coach. Whichever way you get there before 1 May 2020, if you are at all into art (or like sheep) make sure you go and see Jan van Eyck's and his brother Hubert's restored masterpiece, the Ghent Altarpiece: https://www.dw.com/en/newly-restored-ghent-altarpiece-reveals-humanoid-mystic-lamb/a-52163409

A revolutionary painting in itself for its details which have been further enhanced by the restoration, the most stunning revelation causing a sensation is the original depiction of the lamb itself. The guy being a master I am actually not that surprised, I mean it is not just a lamb it is the lamb and a symbol beyond its animal shape. I have always been a little "bewildered and intrigued" by the baby Jesus being depicted blessing the on-looker and looking "knowing-all" himself, far exceeding a baby's normal brain capacity.

Which reminds me: I have mentioned this before but would like to recommend again the Isenheim Altarpiece, if you happen to go to Colmar on a river cruise: https://www.musee-unterlinden.com/en/home/

notamermaid

jeb_bud · February 2, 2020

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you jeb_bud. Good to read you found the thread info useful. 2021, what river might it be? In Europe? The exotic places in Asia certainly have their appeal, but I myself am much intrigued by the possibility of sailing on a river towards the Baltic with Viva Cruises or CroisiEurope. After nearly seven years I am still just "window shopping" as time (work), health or money so far have prevented another river cruise.

Have fun travelling on Cruise Critic and who knows, we might in a few months read that you have booked something for next year...

notamermaid

We've just started thinking about that. We were looking into Myanmar but we have some minor mobility issues and received input from previous cruisers and the cruise line that caused us to take it off the list. Now we are back focusing on Europe.

djh1959 · February 3, 2020

WE too appreciated all your information last year before our cruise in October - Scenic Amsterdam to Basel, so thank you notamermaid. Like Jeb_bud, we are not cruising this year, but I still read the forums every day.

We are travelling to Europe later this year though, but this time to Spain and Portugal. We are doing a self organised land trip, as one thing that we learned from our cruise is that we don't really like too many organised activities, and really don't like "dinner at 7" every single night.

I would love to do another but it would have to be on a ship with a little more flexibility.

TSmith48 · February 3, 2020

We will be cruising Amsterdam to Budapest 6th May, and are already getting excited. I will be following this thread closely between now and then!

AF-1 · February 3, 2020

Since this will be my first river cruise; and after reading this forum about water levels; I will have already prepared myself for possible delays, or bus rides to catch up with the boat. Not a big deal; will deal with whatever happens; so it won't ruin our cruise. Cheers and have fun out there.

jpalbny · February 4, 2020

17 hours ago, djh1959 said:

We are travelling to Europe later this year though, but this time to Spain and Portugal. We are doing a self organised land trip, as one thing that we learned from our cruise is that we don't really like too many organised activities, and really don't like "dinner at 7" every single night.

Have a great time! Hope you have as much fun as we did with this trip.

djh1959 · February 4, 2020

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Have a great time! Hope you have as much fun as we did with this trip.

Thanks JP. It is still such a long way away! Lots of fun planning though and your trip report has helped a lot.

notamermaid · February 4, 2020

Due to heavy rain over the weekend the river has risen sharply and we have official flooding status in the Upper and Middle Rhine valley. The gauge at Maxau, that is near Karlsruhe, is showing 741cm. At 750cm traffic will be suspended in that section of the river. However, the level is supposed to peak soon so that scenario might just be avoided.

The flooding came fast, it took only 48 hours to get to this situation. Hopefully, with a few drier days coming up we will revert to standard seasonal high water soon.

It has been a mild winter so far, but if we get a cold spell followed by Spring snow melt, flooding is possible in March or April.

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 5, 2020

The level at Maxau has peaked and is now down to 725cm. River traffic is forced to go slowly and ships can only sail in the middle of the navigation channel. The level at Koblenz is still rising. River traffic near or downstream from Koblenz could be halted, but it is not clear yet if the levels will rise that much during the night.

From Sunday, more rain is forecast for the Rhine valley.

And then it will just be a short time till Rhenish Carnival is upon us.

notamermaid

jerryd1 · February 5, 2020

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

The level at Maxau has peaked and is now down to 725cm. River traffic is forced to go slowly and ships can only sail in the middle of the navigation channel. The level at Koblenz is still rising. River traffic near or downstream from Koblenz could be halted, but it is not clear yet if the levels will rise that much during the night.

From Sunday, more rain is forecast for the Rhine valley.

And then it will just be a short time till Rhenish Carnival is upon us.

notamermaid

Thank you for sharing these updates with us. I know it's early but I'm watching the levels since I'm with a group cruising the Rhine in mid May.

notamermaid · February 5, 2020

Hello jerryd1,

it is indeed early in the year and no one can even say if that is the only flooding we will see this winter. Levels might stay high and below official flooding level or they may rise again come March - or April. Flooding in May is rare but possible.

One thing is certain - May is a nice month to be on the river. Okay, it can rain quite a bit but generally speaking the weather is warm and settled and the leaves fully green.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 6, 2020

All gauges down to and including Cologne have now peaked and the river level at Cologne has just started falling again. It reached 7.99m so fortunately a river "closure" to traffic could be avoided.That would have happened at 8.30m. All info is transmitted electronically from these measuring stations, but how the nmeasure works technically is explained here in German on the Cologne water works website: https://www.steb-koeln.de/hochwasser-und-ueberflutungsschutz/akutes-hochwasser/der-koelner-pegel/der-koelner-pegel.jsp

If the translation is too wonky or you do not feel like reading, just a few explanations. The tower in the photo houses the measure, i.e. the gauge, and you can read it on the dial. You can see the tower on the embankment near the old town. Some ships dock there, when there is no flooding, you can see the tower surrounded by water in the third photo. Many river cruise ships dock further beyond the bridge at the right side of the photo.

Hochwassermarke I at 6.20m means traffic has to slow down and use the middle of the navigation channel. Hochwassermarke II at 8.30m means river traffic stops. Those figures are only valid for Cologne.

The figures in the columns show how much volume of water the river carries at certain levels. Note the striking difference in levels between extreme low and high water: 0.81m versus 10.69m.

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 7, 2020

Okay, I shall hide in the cellar. I have just read the weather report. Issued is a prewarning for extreme weather for Sunday and Monday. A cool but pleasant Saturday will be followed by heavy rain and hurricane force winds over most of the valley. A proper hurricane is likely during the night. Rain will be heavier in the Moselle valley around Trier.

I work at weekends, so I am glad it is tomorrow only and Sunday is my free day. Looks like I will stay indoors and have to check the roof tiles on Monday morning.

Hope your weather is more pleasant where ever you are. If you are in Australia, yes I know you are still struggling. My sympathies, cannot watch the news, too sad.

The heavy rain will increase flooding again, but it is too early for details.

Have a nice weekend.

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 12, 2020

It is Wednesday afternoon and we are now on level 1 weather warning which is not really a worry in a town environment. I would certainly still hesitate to go into forests at this time. It has been an eventful few days and I have had a conversation over the last four days with our people in Bavaria in the thread on the Danube.

Along the Rhine there was much disruption to public transport and power cuts in villages but unusually the small town of Vallendar on the Rhine near Koblenz was also hit. In Duisburg an overhead power cable (the "earth" cable) had fallen into the Rhine. Traffic was halted for a short while till the cable had been assessed and declared safe. A bit West in the town of Moers a roof had been blown of a DIY store. All in all, damage and injuries have been fewer than one may fear in such conditions.

The severe weather ended here last night - it will continue for some hours along the coasts - with a hailstorm of the stronger kind. Thankfully, the grains were just that, not icy balls of the larger kind.

And the Rhine yesterday had an unexpected visitor: a seal! It was spotted and photographed near Krefeld in the water. As a biologist said in an interview, it can survive quite well in fresh water for some time and does not need the salty North Sea desperately. It should soon return home, but if the fish around Krefeld is good and plentiful it might decide to stay for a while.

notamermaid

notamermaid · February 14, 2020

Several occurrences can interfere with sailing on the Rhine (and the other navigable rivers). An unusual incident I mentioned above was the cable in the water due to storm damage. An unexpected cease of river traffic followed. Another closure happened on Wednesday, this time it had been planned meticulously for a joyous and slightly spectacular event: moving a bridge component. Connecting Mainz with Wiesbaden is the Schiersteiner Brücke, the bridge that carries the regional Autobahn numbered A643 across the river. As has become a favoured procedure for busy road bridges, a new one was built alongside the old, with the middle span put into place with the means of a pontoon. This is how it worked (video in German, but interesting to watch nevertheless): https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/tonnenschweres-puzzlestueck-fuer-schiersteiner-bruecke,schiersteiner-bruecke-148.html

The start of the operation was delayed by a few hours as the wind was too strong but the work was finished on Thursday.

About Schierstein, the name of the bridge: it is a suburb of Wiesbaden, but a historic small town. Bordering the Rhine, it has a marina but no dock for river cruise ships as far as I could find out.

A river cruise dock in the vicinity is at neighbouring Biebrich, which I have written about here as part 4: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/

notamermaid

King of Cruising · February 14, 2020

Thank you for more great information...

Keep it coming, I love it!!!

notamermaid · February 16, 2020

On 2/14/2020 at 5:34 PM, King of Cruising said:

Thank you for more great information...

Keep it coming, I love it!!!

Thank you very much. But do not encourage me too much, my posts might get too frequent and too long. I work in (tourism) marketing* and you know what those people are like when they really start talking. Grin.

Seriously, I would say it is relatively quiet and uneventful in my part of the valley right now. Apart from the fact that we are on level 2 storm warning again. Next week will see the Carnival in full swing. I am watching (on websites) the progress of the building and movement of the new river cruise ships - the " Winter and Spring babies" and their christenings.

Rhine water levels 2020 and similar topics

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