Danube water levels 2022 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

Oberammergau. The Passion play in the small Alpine town takes place only every ten years* and is therefore such a rare occasion that it attracts the attention of river cruise companies and their passengers. You need to know that Oberammergau is so far away from the Danube that it is a more unusual offer and does not fit into a sailing schedule. It is offered as a pre- or post-cruise experience. Still interested in booking? Hurry, cabins are likely selling fast on these itineraries: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Luxe-lines-ready-to-raise-curtain-on-Oberammergau-sailings

 

Prefer a land trip to the area? A bit of info on such trips is also given in the article.

*moved from 2020 to 2022.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

With the weather having been sunny and very dry all over Germany the Rhine has got low, so presumably the Danube as well? Correct. The Danube for sailing with river cruise ships has a tighter margin of comfortable sailing in the low water issue section between Straubing and Vilshofen than the Rhine in the respective section around Kaub. As a result, more sailing days are impacted on the Danube than on the Rhine. That is a statistical statement. Of course, It only applies to you If you sail that section. In recent years Vilshofen has become more and more and embarkation port to avoid the problems further upstream.

 

So how is Pfelling in that stretch doing? Okay still at 320cm. It is a little low but we need not worry too much as rain today has also reached the Upper Danube. Looks good to me for this week. But the weather is forecast to return to dry and sunny, so we should have another look soon.

 

notamermaid

 

. 

[notamermaid]

We still have a relatively stable situation on the German Danube despite the dry weather conditions. At 324cm Pfelling is still doing okay. We will see this go down a little tomorrow and Thursday most likely, but it does not look enough to make us overly nervous. We will need to have a look again closer to the weekend.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Alpine and mountain tributaries appear to be giving the Danube a fair bit of water now. Despite no actual rain, the level at Pfelling has risen to 339cm. Nice. Cooler temperatures and rain are forecast from Wednesday and higher areas in Bavaria could even see a bit of snow.

 

notamermaid

 

[chrisanjohn]

On 3/26/2022 at 3:35 PM, notamermaid said:

The Alpine and mountain tributaries appear to be giving the Danube a fair bit of water now. Despite no actual rain, the level at Pfelling has risen to 339cm. Nice. Cooler temperatures and rain are forecast from Wednesday and higher areas in Bavaria could even see a bit of snow.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for these updates! We are planning to cruise from Vilshofen to Budapest early next week (April 3rd) will they cruise the river in the snowy conditions?  Our timing is not the best, but we are hopeful and looking forward to returning to river cruising and the beautiful Danube!

[notamermaid]

@chrisanjohn That is an interesting question, something I have never thought about before. Which I suppose is a hint that snow does not stop river cruise ships. I myself have certainly never read of any problems!

 

What happens in frosty conditions is that the crew closes off the sundeck for safety and it can happen that landing stages get slippery but your crew will be aware of that possibility. Perhaps in a snow blizzard a river cruise ship could face problems navigating but they all use radar. Storm tends to be a potential hazard for ships even on the river but I doubt it will get that stormy next week. Standard windy conditions are fine for sailing in.

 

Your post has reminded me that I was on the Danube right at the same time of year as you will be and in 2013 we also had a late cold spell, it had snowed in the area a couple of days before I left home, so there was snow in the hills at Passau and snow on the ground at Melk Abbey when I walked through the park there. Snow at the beginning of April in Bavaria is not uncommon.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[chrisanjohn]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

@chrisanjohn That is an interesting question, something I have never thought about before. Which I suppose is a hint that snow does not stop river cruise ships. I myself have certainly never read of any problems!

 

What happens in frosty conditions is that the crew closes off the sundeck for safety and it can happen that landing stages get slippery but your crew will be aware of that possibility. Perhaps in a snow blizzard a river cruise ship could face problems navigating but they all use radar. Storm tends to be a potential hazard for ships even on the river but I doubt it will get that stormy next week. Standard windy conditions are fine for sailing in.

 

Your post has reminded me that I was on the Danube right at the same time of year as you will be and in 2013 we also had a late cold spell, it had snowed in the area a couple of days before I left home, so there was snow in the hills at Passau and snow on the ground at Melk Abbey when I walked through the park there. Snow at the beginning of April in Bavaria is not uncommon.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

Good to hear and we knew it was risky coming this early, but after the last 2 years, our risk tolerance has gained strength 🙂  Can't wait to be in your beautiful part of this world again.  Thanks so much for the quick reply!

[notamermaid]

March has turned into April so it is time to recap - the water levels at Pfelling:

The month started off well but lack of rain created a graph that went down steadily. However, warmer temperatures can also mean snow melt. I am not sure if this helped much as I am not very familiar with the nature of the Danube tributaries. Whatever it was, the Danube in Germany managed to stay at reasonably good level while the Rhine went down to a more (just slightly) worrying level. But in the end, both rivers stayed above levels that could cause delayed itineraries. Rain over all of Germany, here meaning basically over all tributaries of the Danube caused a sudden rise that was not a problem as it had started from a low-ish level. The Danube at Pfelling is now at the statistical mean (the line MW) so we can look towards next week with ease.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Time flies and more than a week has passed since my last post. That is good news of course, as it means there is nothing to report about Pfelling gauge. Still very pleasant for sailing, at 387cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It has not been raining so let us check Pfelling gauge. Tonight it is at 338cm. Certainly getting lower. The weather report suggests rain of note on three of the next seven days for Danube basin. That should do the trick, i.e. keep the level pleasant next week. But never a guarantee with this naturally flowing river at that stretch in Bavaria.

 

Let us have another look next week.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

We have reached May, time to look back at what the Danube at Pfelling was doing in April:

With little rain but not high temperatures the level at Pfelling has gone done moderately after the few days of heavier rain. Fair amounts of rain should keep the level relatively steady in Spring, but higher temperatures would obviously not be helpful in that. But the weather will not be that warm, staying below 20 Celsius. Rain is also forecast for the Upper Danube and some tributaries in the next three days. They say the "Eisheiligen" (the May cold spell) may be early this year.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Now for something not quite so pleasant: rubbish, dirt and other stuff that does not belong in the Danube. At least not unfiltered if it concerns what ships put into the river. The police at Passau have done a check on the sewage treatment on ships. Among the vessels checked were 11 river cruise ships. Two tests were suspicious and the samples have been sent to a laboratory. A third river cruise ship had a functioning system, but someone had apparently not set the system properly so that the sewage went into the Danube untreated. This has lead to criminal action and I assume could involve a hefty fine if found guilty.

 

The German article: https://www.pnp.de/lokales/stadt-und-landkreis-passau/passau-stadt/Abwaesser-laufen-fast-ungeklaert-in-die-Donau-4308646.html

 

The Danube does suffer a lot from all sorts of pollution. To make people aware of this, a German professor has started a campaign. He is swimming the Danube. This is the website: https://www.cleandanube.org/?lang=en

 

notamermaid

 

[csherriff]

I don’t mean to highjack the subject, but cannot find a similar one to this for the Rhine in 2022.  My family has a trip up the Rhine (from Amsterdam to Basel) planned for July 8 - 15th.  I am wondering what the levels are like on the Rhine?  They are cruising with Viking and wonder what happens if the water levels are too low to cruise with them?  We did one with Crystal in 2018 and were rerouted and given compensation for the alteration.  Thanks for any assistance to my inquiries!

 

Colleen

[gnome12]

11 minutes ago, csherriff said:

I don’t mean to highjack the subject, but cannot find a similar one to this for the Rhine in 2022.  My family has a trip up the Rhine (from Amsterdam to Basel) planned for July 8 - 15th.  I am wondering what the levels are like on the Rhine?  They are cruising with Viking and wonder what happens if the water levels are too low to cruise with them?  We did one with Crystal in 2018 and were rerouted and given compensation for the alteration.  Thanks for any assistance to my inquiries!

 

Colleen

You didn’t have to look very far. The thread was on page 2.

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

There is also a Sticky at the top of the forum with links to all the current River status threads:

 

[csherriff]

Thank you @gnome12 and @Host Jazzbeau for pointing me in the right direction!  I am now following the Rhine Water Level 2022 posts.  

 

Colleen

[notamermaid]

11 hours ago, csherriff said:

I am now following the Rhine Water Level 2022 posts.  

Talk to you over there . I intend to regularly update when the level gets lower.which, to refer to your original question, is certainly a possibility in July. Plan B and plan C are always there with the river cruise ship companies, both on the Danube and the Rhine, just in case they are needed. I remember Crystal having a different strategy in 2018 and re-routed to the Moselle. Plan D if you like.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A quick look at Pfelling gauge. 323cm. That is certainly okay. It appears that the Danube is able to maintain a decent level right now without much rain helping. And problems usually are not to be expected on a large scale in May anyway, I mean drought. Bavaria is actually experiencing more rain and severe weather this week than the Rhine, but that water for the most part will drain into the Danube after Pfelling. Still, forecast is favourable at Pfelling, the level is supposed to rise a little over the weekend. That hopefully and likely will give all river cruise ships enough water to sail for quite some days.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Just to reassure everyone... Oktoberfest!!

 

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-oktoberfest-festival-to-take-place-again-in-munich/a-61633537

 

🍻

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Danube in Bavaria. We had lots of rain along the Rhine but it has also rained along the Danube so we see that the gauge at Pfelling reacted quite a bit. During today the level has gone down again, is now at 357cm. That is really good for sailing.

 

But for tonight there is a weather warning and a thunderstorm is hitting parts of Bavaria as I write. What we saw earlier today around Lake Constance has moved East and inland, has reached Nuremberg, will get to Regensburg soon and sweep over the Danube valley further East.

 

This should raise the level of the Danube tomorrow again.

 

Stay safe.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

No news is good news on the Bavarian Danube - as regards river levels. So I will just briefly send you my monthly report. What was May like? Okay to good . The level at Pfelling did not fall below 310cm for the whole month:

 

Light rain is coming to the Danube on Friday and will continue with drizzle over the weekend, so this should help with keeping the level over 300cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Did I say no news is good news? Unfortunately, news has come in of another ship accident. It again concerns a railway bridge, this one at Forchheim on the Main Danube Canal. During last night, the captain of a river cruise ship did not lower the wheelhouse far enough and caught the bridge. Thankfully, he was unhurt and the passengers also. The ship was steered with the help of the nock to the nearest lock and remains there for damage assessment and repairs. News article from "Fränkischer Tag". The name of the ship has not been disclosed.

 

notamermaid

 

[TFree]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Did I say no news is good news? Unfortunately, news has come in of another ship accident. It again concerns a railway bridge, this one at Forchheim on the Main Danube Canal. During last night, the captain of a river cruise ship did not lower the wheelhouse far enough and caught the bridge. Thankfully, he was unhurt and the passengers also. The ship was steered with the help of the nock to the nearest lock and remains there for damage assessment and repairs. News article from "Fränkischer Tag". The name of the ship has not been disclosed.

 

notamermaid

 

That seems crazy. We are in Vienna, heading for Passau. I will have to look up where Forchheim is. 
 

Tom & Judy

[Daisi]

@TFree, you will be OK as Forcheim is past Nuremburg, on the way to Wurzburg.  Here is a link to the article, in German, but Google translate helps. :

https://www.fraenkischertag.de/lokales/forchheim-fraenkischeschweiz/blaulicht/schiff-bleibt-auf-dem-main-donau-kanal-bei-forchheim-an-eisenbahnbruecke-haengen-art-151985

[notamermaid]

Thanks Daisi.

 

27 minutes ago, TFree said:

We are in Vienna, heading for Passau. I will have to look up where Forchheim is. 

 

Forchheim is normally only reached on the Grand tour itinerary (usually Amsterdam to Budapest or vice versa) or a Rhine/Main itinerary that goes to Nuremberg.

 

Unfortunately, sailing under (low) bridges during the night is a particular hazard. A known thing to authorities and the river traffic realm.

 

There is no interruption to river traffic. The linked article and others suggest that there is damage to the railway bridge, but I have no info whether the bridge has been reopened yet or not.

 

notamermaid