Danube water levels 2021 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, pgkoch said:

Trying to decide if we stay on our Uniworld Rhine river cruise Sept 19 or move to Danube cruise about the same time?  Seems like Rhine river so high and towns flooded will the riverboats even sail this month?   But then Passau and Danube having trouble for passage.  what will Sept bring?

 

Things can change quickly, I would not make a quick decision, unless you have to. It does not look like we will get drought this year, certainly not in early August. But September we cannot say, overall there is it is less likely on the Rhine than on the Danube. Flooding in September would be very much an exception, even less likely than in August, although it can never be fully ruled out. Ships will run again on the Rhine towards the end of the week if things work out well, I mean the full passage, they are already running (again) in individual sections.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

This is the situation in Passau now:

 

The level at 22:45 was 817cm. In the graph you can see that a further rise is forecast into tomorrow. While the river is very high and may still reach flood warning level 4, it is still far away from the five top historic levels listed with black bullet points above.

 

In Austria all gauging stations now show a rise due to the rain coming via the Danube from Germany or the tributaries in Austria. Linz for example is currently showing flooding in the range of statistically happening less frequently than every year but more frequently than every five years, so not that bad (yet).

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

11 hours ago, pgkoch said:

Trying to decide if we stay on our Uniworld Rhine river cruise Sept 19 or move to Danube cruise about the same time?  Seems like Rhine river so high and towns flooded will the riverboats even sail this month?   But then Passau and Danube having trouble for passage.  what will Sept bring?

 

 

No worries about this... the rivers are falling as fast as they are rising. Nobody can tell you what´s going on in September. High water in July is pretty rare. Usually July and August are the low water months. And usually by September the water levels are going back to normal. The current situation might last for a couple of days and then the river stages are back to normal.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

I read this morning that the Isar is also very high, with some flooding at Munich. @steamboats I know you live higher up. What about the Englischer Garten and other parks, are they affected at this level?

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Somewhat good news from Passau. The level peaked lower that the flood alert 4 mark and is falling steadily. Right now prediction indicates that the water coming from the Isar will not raise the level again significantly.

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I read this morning that the Isar is also very high, with some flooding at Munich. @steamboats I know you live higher up. What about the Englischer Garten and other parks, are they affected at this level?

 

notamermaid

 

 

Some exaggerations... we´re up to Meldestufe 2 (3 m) which means that the river will be out of it´s banks on some places. But it needs Meldestufe 3 for floodings of houses along the river. As the Englischer Garten is a pretty wide area more or less going through the whole city of Munich floodings of buildings are pretty rare. When you walk along the Isar river the closest paths are at least 3 to 5 m higher than the river bed itself. It needs a lot of water to have major floodings in Munich. The creeks going through the Englischer Garten are mainly artifical ones which are regulated. So they fill them up to capacity and you will see brown, muddy water but they don´t flood. I passed through the Englischer Garten and over the Isar river around noon. It´s quite filled up with the branches of the trees hanging in the water but that´s it. They issued a ban for boats/rafts on the river and actually it is not a good idea to take your blow up raft on a river with high water and a strong current plus a lot of debris. So there might be some paths flooded and closed but that´s really a minor thing.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Thanks for all the info. Interesting about the housing and the canal, I have been to Munich but my visit was so brief that I am unfamiliar with the terrain.

 

notamermaid

 

[pgkoch]

On 7/18/2021 at 5:16 PM, notamermaid said:

Things can change quickly, I would not make a quick decision, unless you have to. It does not look like we will get drought this year, certainly not in early August. But September we cannot say, overall there is it is less likely on the Rhine than on the Danube. Flooding in September would be very much an exception, even less likely than in August, although it can never be fully ruled out. Ships will run again on the Rhine towards the end of the week if things work out well, I mean the full passage, they are already running (again) in individual sections.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for info!

[westcoastshell]

We are hoping to go on a Danube River cruise in Mid August, starting in Bavaria and finishing in Budapest. Any one know if August 2021 river sailings are impacted by the recent flooding 

[steamboats]

6 hours ago, westcoastshell said:

We are hoping to go on a Danube River cruise in Mid August, starting in Bavaria and finishing in Budapest. Any one know if August 2021 river sailings are impacted by the recent flooding 

 

As I answered already in the other thread short answer here: No!

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

And just to expand this a little: the level at Passau has fallen to 689cm. That is still a bit high for passage under the bridge, depending on ship, but it is below any flooding alert mark.

 

A slow but steady fall should bring this further down in the next 48 hours.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A brief update: Pfelling 425cm, Passau 551cm. Much better. That is just high, not flooding anymore. With rain forecast, the levels will stay high.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Hooray, another section! A large part of what is called the Danube Limes, the Roman frontier, has been inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage sites list: https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2322

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Pfelling is at 496cm, Passau at 590cm. Both should fall during the night and tomorrow. Some rain is forecast on most days this week along the German Danube. Will see how that goes. Perhaps a bit more concerning is heavy rain that is forecast for Passau and the Austrian Danube, a band of clouds on Wednesday and Thursday over the German Alps, Salzburg and Linz. That should raise the level in the area.

 

I cannot give any specifics as regards effect on navigation for Austria, but for reference, if you would like to follow this yourself, here is the graph for Linz in Austria, including a short forecast period:

https://hydro.ooe.gv.at/#/overview/Wasserstand/station/207068/Linz?mode=map&selected=Wasserstand

As I write the level is at 423cm, above the line denoting MW (mean water level) and far below HW1 (high water - or flooding - level 1). It will be interesting to see how the river reacts to the continued rain.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

While the level at Passau is falling, we may unfortunately only be able to see this as a dip. Rain will make the level rise and could reach a figure that indicates that the river cruise ships with the highest superstructure can encounter difficulties with passage under a bridge. That could happen on Friday.

 

In the graph I posted of Linz a fairly sharp rise is also indicated.

 

In a reversal of experience of the last few years, the Danube has gone from near drought in August to near flooding in August.

 

While this is not unheard of and there has been bad flooding in late Summer in past decades it is nevertheless a rarer occurrence than low water levels.

 

Teaches one to expect anything and me to keep using the words "generally", "usually", etc. as there is no guarantee and relying on the river to do what it did on the same day - or in the same week - in the previous year - or the year before that...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 8/2/2021 at 10:47 PM, notamermaid said:

As I write the level is at 423cm, above the line denoting MW (mean water level) and far below HW1 (high water - or flooding - level 1).

I need to clarify this. HW1 is not a level for navigation but a statistical one, meaning flooding that happens (almost) every year. HW2 is one in two, HW5 is one in five years, etc.

 

The band of rain has shifted and is now more likely to leave rain in Germany around the Lech and Isar rivers (partly the Inn river) and give less directly to the Danube in Austria, but the quantities are still significant enough for all the rivers to react.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Passau level did rise to the 630cm level from which river cruise can get problems with passage under a bridge there. The level peaked last night at 667cm and is now back under 600cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Another rise has taken the level up to 644cm at Passau and the level is forecast to rise a bit further during today, tomorrow will see not much change but hopefully a small decrease to under 630cm. It will likely remain high on Monday as much water is still coming from the Upper reaches of the Danube and its tributaries but next week will see little rain so things should get better.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

It has been a month, so let us look briefly at Pfelling again:

 

After a very high level (HSW is the highest level at which navigation is allowed), it dropped sharply but remains at a level which is higher for August than it has generally been in the past years. Which is good for sailing.  MW means statistical medium water level. The prediction is for a slightly falling level. Overall, this looks for a promising second half of the month, especially as some rain is forecast for next week.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The past years have shown low levels on the Danube in late summer to early autumn (sometimes well into late autumn). This is what I posted a year ago, on 26 August, for example. Quote: "Pfelling gauge has gone well down again, now at 256cm. The lowest level in modern times, by the way, was recorded on 23 August 2018 with 228cm. Rain from Friday and into next week should help."

 

This year is different and due to a few rainy days, the level at Pfelling has risen again. It now stands at 410cm and will rise all through tomorrow. That means at Passau we have a rise already as well, now at 568cm. Passau is forecast to get over 620cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The level has risen faster than forecast. Now Passau gauge stands at 666cm. From 630cm the higher river cruise ships can get problems at the bridge. The wording from the official hydrology pages in Bavaria at https://www.hnd.bayern.de/pegel/meldestufen/donau_bis_passau

Passau gauge:

 

630cm - passage under that bridge potentially impaired

725cm - flooding at the low lying areas

770cm - further flooding of roads, etc.

780cm - river traffic is halted

 

The list continues upwards obviously, for information of local residents, etc.

 

The level is forecast to peak early tomorrow morning.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A further rise brought Passau gauge to704cm during the night. It is now back down to 657cm but will rise again as the water from the Upper Danube and its tributaries reaches Passau during tonight and tomorrow. A rise to over 700cm is unlikely, though.

 

There is a warning for severe weather with heavy rain in the German Lower Alpine regions.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It appears that the level at Passau has peaked and is now on the way down. At 693cm, it is still high enough to cause potential problems but this should ease gradually during tonight and tomorrow if the forecast proves to correct.

 

Here is a possible scenario judging from what the officials give as the "difficulty with passage under the suspension bridge". Leaving at Vilshofen tonight on your ship towards Budapest, you get as far as Passau but are delayed for several hours tomorrow as the level at Passau is too high to pass under the bridge.

 

If you are faced with such a problem, do drop us a line. If possible tell us the date and hour that you passed - and the ship. I would be interested to know.

 

Or if anyone would like to tell us what it is like on the river now please post. Suggestions of great places and photos of river and landscape always welcome.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

At Passau, the level has fallen well and now stands at 591cm. Both Pfelling and Passau now look good for pleasant sailing. Virtually no rain is forecast for next week both on the German Danube and its tributaries so we will see a further fall. Drought? Certainly not for some days as we go into this weekend with still a lot of water in the river, i.e. the river is still relatively high for autumn. And next weekend sees some rain coming in from the West.

 

The situation in Germany makes it look good for sailing in Austria, too.

 

Hope you all have pleasant sunny days on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Time to recap the past month of water levels at Pfelling:

With sunny weather and little rain in the past week, there is nothing left of that peak we saw at the beginning of the month. It is the now the lowest we have seen it for quite a few weeks. The heavy rain gave the Danube a good buffer with which to get through September - normally a time of already low levels in which many river cruise ships can struggle. In reversal to previous years then, the level is still good, right now standing at 334cm. Rain is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday will see rain just along the Alpine tributaries of the Danube. The amount should be substantial enough the keep the level from falling much further this week. 300cm is the figure to watch on a downward trend as from 290cm the ships with the deepest draft can get affected.

 

notamermaid