Rhine water levels 2024 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

Apparently there has been a collision of a river cruise ship with a tanker at Cologne Niehl during the night. Niehl is the commercial harbour of Cologne where river cruise ships occasionally dock or stay over the winter. The tanker must have come out of the harbour area and the ships hit each other head-on at kilometre 699.5. No injuries reported. Both ships have since sailed on.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Police report confirms that the tanker had left Niehl, sailing empty. The livery of the river cruise ship is mostly red. Other report says that it had come from Nijmegen. The ship is sailing, so all good.

 

The bridge at Konstanz closed due to the flooding has reopened. Lake Constance is still very gradually losing centimetres on the graph.

 

Warm temperatures with thunderstorms and partially heavy rain expected in the Rhine valley over the next three days.

 

Please note that Maxau gauge is still officially on flood vigilance.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The clouds have shifted - and the amount of rain they are supposed to bring has been re-assessed - so the forecast looks better than yesterday. Lake Constance will not leave flood vigilance level but Maxau has done so for the time being. That gauge will rise again on Saturday. Flood vigilance will be back but no flooding of note. This constant high is not perfect but we can live with it for navigation.

 

For a bit of fun: it is the European Football Cup and tonight Scotland is playing Switzerland. Today the Scottish fans took over an excursion boat in Cologne. They have had a great party on the MS RheinCargo. I am sure the captain and the owners of the boat will remember this unusual lot of passengers for quite some time.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

As I mentioned on Wednesday, Maxau will rise again. Due to heavy rain in localized thunderstorms, quite a few of them, the river is rising already and has in the last hour or so gone back to flood vigilance at Maxau gauge. Lake Constance is forecast to rise again as well. The High Rhine and Upper Rhine will therefore partly be on flooding or flood vigilance. But most important for us is navigation generally and under bridges. Contrary to the Danube, Main and Moselle, we do not have problems with those "obstacles" on the Rhine in these conditions now and there is enough headroom for a higher level still. Only problems I know could happen is a bridge supposedly in Basel being a bit low for some docking locations. But that is something easily solved by moving ships a bit further downstream. If you know of such a manoeuvre on your cruise and would like to share the experience, that is of course much welcome.

 

To general navigation. The forecast has been changing quite a bit in the last three days, but now we can safely say that the levels in the Upper Rhine valley will rise a lot, the level at Maxau is now 653cm and 700cm is firmly in the graph for tomorrow. So far the modelling is ruling out a river traffic ban. Navigation downstream from Worms should only be minimally impacted, i.e. possibly adjusted navigation. No flooding indicated on the Moselle. The Main will rise but it is too early to say if this will be substantially on the river itself and as of now a considerable impact for the level of the Rhine is not indicated.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

By the way, we have had a short river traffic ban again - during the defusing of a WWII bomb in Cologne. The bomb was found while dredging and put on a lighter (boat). This was then positioned away from residential areas and the bomb defused.

 

As regards the Scottish fans - one of them stripped naked and jumped into the Rhine from the embankment. Not recommended, do not do that, too dangerous. Not because of the potential bombs but there are far too many other obstacles under water and small currents. The Rhine is such a fast-flowing river. People swim in the river much further upstream near Basel but they know where they can do that and it is relatively safe in comparison.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

17 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The forecast has been changing quite a bit in the last three days, but now we can safely say that the levels in the Upper Rhine valley will rise a lot, the level at Maxau is now 653cm and 700cm is firmly in the graph for tomorrow.

It is not often that I see a major change in the forecast for the next 24 hours. This time I have done. Maxau gauge is at 659cm and only forecast to rise to about 670cm, the 700cm have been pushed to tomorrow and now have a high uncertainty.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

That was the good news. The not so good news is that there has been so much rain for the High Rhine area and East of there that Lake Constance has made a "jump" to 498cm. It may get to 500cm again soon. Lake Constance never left flood vigilance, now Hauenstein is back there and as I mentioned before so is Maxau. The high level of the Rhine will be with us for a while it seems. It necessitates adjusted sailing which can lead to a bit of delay on an itinerary. Not a big deal but the notion of a river traffic ban being possible is not going away which is really unusual for this time of year.

 

notamermaid

 

[NCvol24]

23 hours ago, notamermaid said:

By the way, we have had a short river traffic ban again - during the defusing of a WWII bomb in Cologne. The bomb was found while dredging and put on a lighter (boat). This was then positioned away from residential areas and the bomb defused.

 

As regards the Scottish fans - one of them stripped naked and jumped into the Rhine from the embankment. Not recommended, do not do that, too dangerous. Not because of the potential bombs but there are far too many other obstacles under water and small currents. The Rhine is such a fast-flowing river. People swim in the river much further upstream near Basel but they know where they can do that and it is relatively safe in comparison.

 

notamermaid

 

That is so crazy, would have never expected that as a reason for a river ban when planning!

 

I've read posts of recent travelers, and it appears the ship a day after us crashed and guests had to be bussed from the last full day port to Basel. We lucked out being in a window of a full cruise success!

 

We returned home last night, had a great trip!

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, NCvol24 said:

That is so crazy, would have never expected that as a reason for a river ban when planning!

 

I've read posts of recent travelers, and it appears the ship a day after us crashed and guests had to be bussed from the last full day port to Basel. We lucked out being in a window of a full cruise success!

 

We returned home last night, had a great trip!

Yup, you can plan it perfectly, everything is bright, sunshine, water levels, all good - and then they find a bomb... Usually though, river traffic is only suspended during the efforts to defuse the bomb so a maximum of 12 hours during daylight hours.

 

Sorry to read about the accident. Only read about the one at Cologne (German ship) and the one at Boppard (unknown international ship). Was it on the Grand Canal d'Alsace, i.e, the French river section?

 

Good to read that you have had a great time on the Rhine.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

After heavy rainfall mountain regions of Switzerland have experienced landslides. The popular tourist village of Zermatt has been cut off. Parts of the country are on high alert.

https://www.euronews.com/2024/06/22/switzerland-hit-by-floods-as-residents-and-tourists-on-high-alert

 

This water will drain via the Aare river into the Rhine in the next 72 hours. Lake Constance is now on 500cm.

 

Maxau gauge has now reached 670cm and is forecast to reach 700cm by tomorrow afternoon. 720cm are likely.

 

It is raining in the whole Lower Alpine regions of Germany tonight, so there being the European watershed some of that water will go East rather than feed the Rhine and not only reach the Danube via the more direct Southern tributaries of the young Danube but also further in Germany via the Inn river directly at Passau. The Inn with it source is not far from the Alpine Rhine.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

With the level of Lake Constance having crossed the mark of 500cm again, the closure of the passage under the bridge at Konstanz is back.

 

The weather is warm to hot and calmer now so a respite from the rain is here. In reaction to the hot temperatures we will see thunderstorms during next week. How that will make the river look we will need to wait and see. There is too much uncertainty in the quantity and locations of the rain that I would want to take the graphs too seriously at the moment. For now, let us have a look at Maxau gauge tonight. The reading is 705cm. It will further rise and we should see the peak early tomorrow at around 720cm. The level will fall but stay high overall - the Lake and Switzerland are supplying a high volume of water - and then we need to see what the clouds will do.

 

notamermaid

 

[JYMM]

Will the flooding in Switzerland over the last few days impact the Rhine river?    

[notamermaid]

39 minutes ago, JYMM said:

Will the flooding in Switzerland over the last few days impact the Rhine river?    

It is doing already but the volume of water needs a day or two to get to the Rhine and then a bit more time to get where river cruise ships sail. I am not sure about the time frame in detail. So after that rain which has come through the Canal already (the section of navigable river that is in France) and is causing this peak at Maxau gauge (near Karlsruhe in Germany) we will see how this current volume of water in the High Rhine between Konstanz and Basel changes the level in Germany over the next three days. The French authorities have put "their" river on flood warning yellow (that is mild).

 

It does have a small impact on navigation but such details only those directly sailing on the river can tell you. Basel is on navigational flood mark I. For Maxau I can tell you that it is on navigational flood mark I so extra vigilance for sailing is warranted. While there is much water coming from Switzerland, overall on the map this does not look too dramatic:

 

We will see how it goes during the week.

 

As not much volume of water is coming from the right tributaries of the Rhine in Germany, I see no problems at all for the river downstream of Worms (and little risk at Worms at that).

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Phutch9136]

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It is doing already but the volume of water needs a day or two to get to the Rhine and then a bit more time to get where river cruise ships sail. I am not sure about the time frame in detail. So after that rain which has come through the Canal already (the section of navigable river that is in France) and is causing this peak at Maxau gauge (near Karlsruhe in Germany) we will see how this current volume of water in the High Rhine between Konstanz and Basel changes the level in Germany over the next three days. The French authorities have put "their" river on flood warning yellow (that is mild).

 

It does have a small impact on navigation but such details only those directly sailing on the river can tell you. Basel is on navigational flood mark I. For Maxau I can tell you that it is on navigational flood mark I so extra vigilance for sailing is warranted. While there is much water coming from Switzerland, overall on the map this does not look too dramatic:

 

We will see how it goes during the week.

 

As not much volume of water is coming from the right tributaries of the Rhine in Germany, I see no problems at all for the river downstream of Worms (and little risk at Worms at that).

 

notamermaid

 

 

We set sail from Basel to Trier (Swiss Alps to Paris) on July 1. Arriving Zurich on Saturday 

 

[notamermaid]

8 hours ago, Phutch9136 said:

We set sail from Basel to Trier (Swiss Alps to Paris) on July 1. Arriving Zurich on Saturday 

 

Just that little bit too early to say what the conditions on the river will be like on 1st July. What we can see so far is that Lake Constance is at 505cm and does not look to be rising any more, if it does it will be little. This means that hardly any higher volume of water is indicated to reach the Rhine than is getting there now from the Lake and Switzerland. This is reflected in the graph at Maxau gauge showing a downward trend. It is at 712cm and looks to have peaked. So we will see the river at a continued high level during this week and as of now it looks as if Maxau gauge will not leave flood vigilance level. We will have a clearer picture of the coming weekend by Wednesday.

 

The Moselle river is fine.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Parts of Switzerland were really hit hard by the downpours on Friday. For river cruise passengers with an extension in the country it may be of interest that the A13 motorway has sustained considerable damage and is closed to traffic in one section.

 

Maxau gauge is confirmed on the down trend but the forecast still stands that it will not leave flood vigilance level any time soon. The figures will most likely be between 655cm and 705cm till the 30th of June (now at 706cm).

 

Not unrelated, but a slightly different topic. The fast current and the recent flooding has caused or moved shallows in the navigation channel again. I am sure some work will need to be done this year in the Upper Rhine valley. Today a boat is showing this track on marinetraffic.com:

 

This is not some weird party boat or a training exercise. The Hildegard von Bingen is a sonar boat checking the depth of the river in the navigation channel. She has been rather busy in the Lower Middle Rhine valley today. I reckon the authorities expect there has been movement of sand and gravel recently and sent the boat to check. It may be related to the harbour entrance there. Sections were ships regularly turn like Cologne Deutz harbour are prone to additional movement of material due to the action of the ship propellers on top of natural variations in currents.

 

marinetraffic.com has some good photos of the boat.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited Monday at 09:07 PM by notamermaid

[Host Jazzbeau]

18 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

The Hildegard von Bingen is a sonar boat

Very apropos name!  

 

She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen

[Canal archive]

Not surprised I was wondering if the huge extra amounts of water would cause movement in the depths, I suspect these movements could carry on as in some areas the moving bits just might try and return from whence they came.

[notamermaid]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Very apropos name!  

 

She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen

You have beaten me to it [no pun intended]!  I was next going to explain who Hildegard von Bingen was. For those with a bit of spare time in Rüdesheim: in the hills not far from the town is the modern convent of Eibingen Abbey in the tradition of Hildegard of Bingen. Her name by the way refers to Bingen on the other side of the Rhine from Rüdesheim: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eibingen_Abbey

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

You have beaten me to it [no pun intended]!  I was next going to explain who Hildegard von Bingen was. For those with a bit of spare time in Rüdesheim: in the hills not far from the town is the modern convent of Eibingen Abbey in the tradition of Hildegard of Bingen. Her name by the way refers to Bingen on the other side of the Rhine from Rüdesheim: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eibingen_Abbey

 

notamermaid

 

Hildegard von Bingen was really an amazing polymath who had widespread and in depth knowledge of theology, music, medicine, and natural history. Pope Benedict XVI named her a Doctor of the Church putting her in the company of about three dozen of the most important thinkers and scholars of the Roman Catholic Church of all time.

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

12 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Hildegard von Bingen was really an amazing polymath who had widespread and in depth knowledge of theology, music, medicine, and natural history.

She was certainly an amazing woman. When one digs a bit deeper into Medieval history one finds a  - perhaps surprising - number of very influential women. But even among those she sticks out I find with her wide interest in so many areas of life.

 

Here is a quick tip for travellers. If you have been to Rüdesheim before or even if you do not want to try out the wine-happy-old-world Germany in the streets of the small town on your first cruise, take the ferry and cross over to Bingen. You can take a photo of your ship if it is docked conveniently against the "skyline" (usually not Viking). And check out the museum there.

 

notamermaid

 

[Ladyshopper23]

@notamermaid, what's your best educated guess for the next week or so? Our cruise is due to leave Nuremberg this Friday, and arrive in Amsterdam the following Thursday (where we dock overnight before leaving on Friday).

Do you think we're likely to get any problems along this route with everything you know?

[notamermaid]

54 minutes ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

what's your best educated guess for the next week or so?

Better than what it looked to be yesterday! The computer modelling has improved. The Middle Rhine valley has been fine for some time now and will continue to be so. My guess for the rest of your route is that things will be generally good. You are avoiding any difficult areas on the Danube by leaving from Nuremberg. The bigger problem on your route would be the low bridges, but I do not think the Main is high enough for any worry.

 

The only area of concern on the Rhine is really upstream from Maxau. The conditions appear to have improved on the French section already so that is good for the next stretch across the border in Germany.

 

notamermaid

 

[Ladyshopper23]

55 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Better than what it looked to be yesterday! The computer modelling has improved. The Middle Rhine valley has been fine for some time now and will continue to be so. My guess for the rest of your route is that things will be generally good. You are avoiding any difficult areas on the Danube by leaving from Nuremberg. The bigger problem on your route would be the low bridges, but I do not think the Main is high enough for any worry.

 

The only area of concern on the Rhine is really upstream from Maxau. The conditions appear to have improved on the French section already so that is good for the next stretch across the border in Germany.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks so much, really appreciate it.

 

Just started packing, a job that I absolutely detest! Roll on Thursday evening when we head to the airport hotel for our flight to Munich on Friday. Wonder how many football fans will be on board?

 

I just realised (yesterday) that Taylor Swift is playing in Amsterdam the night we're docked overnight, so am on a mission to try and get tickets. Probably impossible, as I certainly refuse to pay the inflated prices that people are currently trying to sell them for! However, might head on over to the stadium, soak up the atmosphere outside, see what we can hear, and see if any bargains come up once the concert has started (she's on for 3.5 hours, I don't mind missing the first couple of songs if I manage to grab some cheap tickets!).

 

Probably won't happen, but you never know, might just strike lucky. 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

I just realised (yesterday) that Taylor Swift is playing in Amsterdam the night we're docked overnight, so am on a mission to try and get tickets.

Good luck with the tickets. Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid