Danube water levels 2020 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[steamboats]

 

The nickoVision departed Straubing yesterday evening at app. 5:30 pm upriver to Kelheim (todays stopp) on her way to Düsseldorf.

 

This marks the start of river cruising this year... (and the restart of cruising after the lockdown due to Covid-19).

 

The passengers boarded on Monday in Straubing and had a shore tour to Regensburg yesterday. The nickoVision has a capacity of 220 passengers. They started out with only 40.

 

We were crazy enough to drive out there for photos and videos.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

And now Austria is within reach. With the borders opening today to her neighbours apart from Italy, river cruises become feasible again. On the occasion of this, Deutsche Welle has a look at the beauty of Austria: https://m.dw.com/en/the-beauty-of-austria/g-46204294 

 

Austria is a land locked country and if you compare it to its big neighbour Germany overall quite high in altitude with Lake Neusiedl only 117m above sea level. Only? Well, much of the Rhine valley is lower, already at Speyer we are down to 92m and people living beyond the plains North of Cologne regard our hills like Lorelei rock as mountains. Unless you live towards the East in the Harz mountains. The lowest point in Germany is in Schleswig Holstein at 3.54m below sea level.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It has been raining quite a bit, so the Danube at Pfelling is already looking better. The rain has been spread over a very large area in Europe so Austria has already profited as well. Pfelling is now at 297cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@travelingman

Your question regards a website for historical water levels is proving a bit difficult to answer satisfactorily (for my standards of information). I am working on it.

 

notamermaid

 

[travelingman]

36 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

@travelingman

Your question regards a website for historical water levels is proving a bit difficult to answer satisfactorily (for my standards of information). I am working on it.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thank you.  I would not be surprised if there is no such information.

I don't want you to e putting a lot of time into it either.

I really appreciate your looking into it/

 

Stan

[thptrek]

What do you think will happen with Christmas market cruises this winter? Do you think the markets will be cancelled like Oktoberfest was?

[steamboats]

Acutally it´s too early to say anything about Christmas markets. Oktoberfest draws more than 6 million visitors and the big tents have a capacity of up to 10,000 guests. That´s a pretty high risk for spreading the virus. The Christmas markets are much smaller and all open air (some smaller tents). So maybe they come up with a hygiene concept for the markets depending on their size.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

thptrek,

I have read cancellations of Christmas markets that are in confined spaces or limited in size or run by a small scale association. Those tend to serve regional tourists or local communities. For the markets drawing huge crowds, agree with steamboats, I can see them running on an adjusted scale with hygiene protocols and without massive tents. After a disastrous Spring many associations and stall holders rely now on money coming in from the markets.

 

In the tourist places you will visit you are less likely to find markets not happening than in less travelled places. The plans are being finalized in Summer and during June we are likely to hear from the government more info about managing large scale events. I would give it a few weeks and talk to your cruise company and/or get info from the tourism websites of towns and cities.

 

notamermaid

 

[thptrek]

Thanks, we are watching to see what will happen. Really don't want a watered down experience so we shall see. At this point we are hoping our cruise just gets cancelled.

[notamermaid]

A bit of water for the Danube - quite a lot actually!

 

It has been raining substantially, so the Danube at Pfelling has risen to a very comfortable level. After a spike it now stands at 429cm. That will ensure comfortable sailing for next week. Or will it? Here is the tricky bit. Rain with downpours especially around Munich are forecast for this weekend. The Isar river flows through Munich. The confluence of the Isar with the Danube is downstream from Pfelling but upstream from Passau. While the Isar does not really help the Danube in drought much, a downpour together with rain upstream in the Danube catchment area can cause the rivers to swell so that the Danube rises at Passau and makes passage under a bridge a problem. This happens from 630cm at the gauge in Passau. The gauge reads 537cm as I write. Rain is forecast for all five of the next five days.

 

But to a nicer topic - river islands. There are lots of them on the rivers, from the tiniest ever changing gravel beds to the large inhabited and built-up ones that are protected against the water's power. A very famous one is the Museumsinsel in Berlin. Well, Munich and the Isar have got one, too. The Deutsches Museum stands on it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsches_Museum#Museumsinsel

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

The level at Passau peaked at 687cm. The high level will have caused a delay for some ships as they would have struggled to get through under a bridge there. The reading this lunchtime is 619cm, so much better already.

 

@travelingman

Data for historic water levels that are of use to laymen for a quick glance are a bit difficult to obtain it seems. For hydrologists there are full booklets for download, etc. Information overload unless one wants to study...

 

The best info might actuallybe available through a German weather website. Judging from what I have been able to see on it I think this would be good. I have not been able to determine much as the link is for subscribers only: https://www.wetteronline.de/?gid=DL&pcid=pc_pegel_data&pid=p_pegel_data&sid=StationDiagram

When you click on a graph you are taken to the subscription page.

 

In Germany, Undine.bafg.de records hydrology extremes. That data is inconclusive for river cruising in flooding and drought.

 

Overall consensus for Germany till about Budapest is that flooding happens from about snow melt and can occur as late as June. Drought will be from (late) Summer into October. The pattern is different from after Budapest to the Black Sea. I know, this is rather vague.

 

As regards areas, Bavaria in Germany is the worst in drought, with a few shallows in Austria following and then probably Budapest itself. But this is my observation, not expert advise. In flooding, the bridge at Passau is a major obstacle, downstream bridges will be obstacles to a lesser extent of course, too. Flooding closes the river at least in Germany and Austria, in drought Germany does not prohibit sailing, Hungary does. I am not sure about the other countries.

 

To get a pattern without subscribing to the pages mentioned, we need to get several pages with a yearly graph patched together. The pages that is. Here is one for Austria: http://hydro.ooe.gv.at/#207068

This gives you one year at Linz. Changing with the months, one could keep copying the graph into a file and get a nice pattern over the years.

 

For Germany, I am able to do this via the Federal Institute of Hydrology. They publish reports on low water when the need arises and in it regularly post graphs for Hofkirchen, a gauge on the Danube. This gives a good idea of what the situation is in Bavaria. With Austria having similar weather patterns and the river reacting in a similar way a day to three days after the river in Bavaria, we can apply that to river levels in Austria. From the archived report of 3 July 2019 we learn this:

 

From the report of 10 June this year we learn this:

 

The figures underneath the 0 are the dates, so that the first graph gives you 1 June 2018 till the beginning of July 2019, the second graph gives you 1 April 2019 till 9 June 2020. The green line is always Hofkirchen, the green straight dotted green line is the reference figure, basically you do not want the graph to get close to or even below that line as it indicates drought and potential problems for navigation. A spike is okay as long as it does not go above 480cm (Wasserstand). That is when the authorities may close the river in flooding on a specific section of the Bavarian Danube.

 

This seems perhaps a bit complicated and that I have put some work into finding this out. Some of it I knew already and I always enjoy learning along the way.

 

Hope it is helpful.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[travelingman]

Notamermaid:  Don't know how to thank you for the above info.  Now just need to do some translation to English and studying of the data.

But on initial glance the graph bears out what you always say.  Late spring probably will have high water (just a question of how high).  And lower water in early fall.

You appear to be a little like me.  Do not want to let something go until you figure it out.  I had continued to do some research on this but was not having a lot of luck. - partly since everything was coming up in German.

Thanks again for the info and the link.

Hope you continue to be well with Covid-19 and don't let your guard down.

As you might have read, states in the US that continue to move into more "open" phases of reopening are showing increased cases of the virus.

 

Stan

[notamermaid]

On 6/17/2020 at 3:08 PM, travelingman said:

You appear to be a little like me.  Do not want to let something go until you figure it out.  I had continued to do some research on this but was not having a lot of luck. - partly since everything was coming up in German.

Thanks again for the info and the link.

Travelingman, I admit I could not let this one go without having found a somewhat satisfactory answer and deliver on my promise to respond !

Glad you like the info.

 

While I was researching I found this page with two maps of the waterways. Found them good, as they sort of blur out details and focus on the rivers and canals: http://www.viadonau.org/en/newsroom/publications/waterway-maps

 

notamermaid

 

[Steerage Club]

Hello Notamermaid,

Just checking in here on your Danube channel. Will be looking forward to your reports thoughout the year!

Steerage Club

[travelingman]

Thank you Notamermaid.  I find the waterway maps very interesting and easy to read.  I like that it shows the locks and is easy to locate them.

Thanks again.

 

Stan

[notamermaid]

Vienna, home of the Wiener Schnitzel. Here is a report on the famous meat dish and its preparation at the well-known Figlmüller restaurant: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190805-does-this-schnitzel-define-vienna

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

For the record let us have a look at Pfelling gauge: 288cm. A bit low. The prediction is for a slight rise and rain is forecast Thursday and Friday (moderate amounts), as well as Saturday (very little for the Upper Danube).

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

We are supposed to have some more rain here in the South... This might help the Danube river.

 

steamboats

[Prague Shuttle]

It is quite ironic that the water level prognosis is quite good for this season, a pity not so many boats. maybe, just maybe there will be some "normal" Christmas market cruises..

 

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Prague Shuttle said:

It is quite ironic that the water level prognosis is quite good for this season, a pity not so many boats. maybe, just maybe there will be some "normal" Christmas market cruises..

 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast.

 

And we need it. As for the Rhine levels - things are looking good. As for the Danube - slightly sketchy for Autumn but better than some may fear after the drought of 2018. The Elbe has surprised us with actual good sailing conditions in July, well, I feared there might not be a proper sailing season.

 

The markets - I myself have heard little about cancellations yet.

 

notamermaid

 

[Prague Shuttle]

Interesting to note 3 months ago 75% of the Czech Republic was under drought conditions and now it is almost normal.

Indeed 2018 was the worse year ever that I can remember although 2002 was very high ;-). I wonder if that is not why most cruises seem to end in Passau now...

[notamermaid]

Yes, I noticed that the Czech Republic is better now (NASA publication end of April looked dire). Overall much of continental Europe is still on the dry side in the deeper ground, but better than experts had feared for this Summer.

 

I could well imagine that adjustments have been made in the itineraries for low water reasons. Vilshofen just North of Passau I read often as an embarkation port these days. Nuremberg seems to be falling out of favour as that.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by notamermaid
Correction of date

[notamermaid]

Let us travel upstream again on the Danube to where no river cruise ships go - Ingolstadt: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-from-a-to-z-ingolstadt/g-53955541

 

Unsurprisingly, there is a castle called "new", i.e. the Neues Schloß. But it already dates from 1430! Reason is there was of course an old castle already, that one was built in the 13th century. Nowadays often referred to as the "Herzogskasten". The "New Castle": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_(Ingolstadt)

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The level at Pfelling has fallen more than the forecast had suggested and currently stands at 275cm. Rain over the weekend and into next week should help. The amounts look okay but we cannot know yet if they are sufficient to get to 300cm and keep that level for more than a couple of days.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge did get over 300cm on the 28th but has since fallen again, as I write the figure is 290cm. There is not much rain forecast.

 

Meanwhile, during the pandemic lockdown, Budapest has had time to breathe and the authorities time to think. The issue is not knew, but here is the chance for Budapest to have a deep rethink about reorganizing tourism - the "cheap flight, cheap drink, hard party" type: https://www.dw.com/en/budapest-moves-to-make-party-tourism-a-thing-of-the-past/a-54307202

 

notamermaid