Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

What the bleep? Have they just closed the river again in parts of Austria? It looks like a short stretch including the two locks:

 

Unfortunately, it is also raining again, from my geography skills if they are correct I would say mostly in the Inn river basin.

 

notamermaid

 

[brian1]

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

 

That's clever, but can those cans capture the fertile country air (Landluft) aroma of warm Mist heaps? (Here's a tip though: Check the ingredients of cans containing Landluft and avoid any that mention Gülle - that's Mist in a tank without the straw.)

 

Don't tell anyone but I think it's canned Chinese fog.Everything is nowdays.

[wineallotment]

In no attempt to sprinkle schadenfreude into the conversation, can all this rain and flooding be good news for those with late summer sailings? Low levels have been a concern for us August travelers.

[notamermaid]

40 minutes ago, wineallotment said:

In no attempt to sprinkle schadenfreude into the conversation, can all this rain and flooding be good news for those with late summer sailings? Low levels have been a concern for us August travelers.

I would say that this is a good question. In theory yes, for August that is. The higher ground water table will help certainly. And the situation is a drawn out flood rather than a spike. However, August is still eight weeks away so a lot can happen. There is another factor, unknown to me in quantity and impact, which plays into what may happen in August. The hydrologists have devised a system that takes water out of the Danube system and diverts it to the Main system. The Main Danube Canal has been designed to feed the Main waterway in summer, so take it from the Danube. How much the authorities will make use of that I do not know.

 

We can compare 2024 to 2013 and see what did the river did after that flooding. Now, in 2013 the level was even higher and I do not remember what the weather was like after June of that year but let us have a look. The authorities allow us to really delve deep into the archives of the hydrology service. I have compiled a graph of May to September of 2013 at Pfelling as that gauge we need to focus on in low water:

 

In 2013 the river peaked at 898cm on the 5th of June, this year it peaked at 834cm on the 5th of June [does any one, like me, find this eerie?]. Now comes the crucial bit. You can see the graph going down and by mid July the river seems be going in and out of a relatively low level, meaning well below the mean (MW line). Indeed the river gets low, low enough to potentially cause problems for river cruise ships. The 16th to the 19th of August saw the river at 290cm or just below that. Very short of course, but it shows that the river can drop that far in that time frame from really bad flooding.

 

The question now for this year is: how long will the river take to fall to the mean, will it be a longer process than in 2013? And then we will have to rely on the weather...

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

The situation is not good in Passau but has improved significantly at the embankment at least. In the webcam you can see the difference to yesterday (go to Archiv in the menu): https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/passau.html

Still on flood level 4 but likely to go to level 3 during the night.

 

notamermaid

 

[CJSANDFS]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The situation is not good in Passau but has improved significantly at the embankment at least. In the webcam you can see the difference to yesterday (go to Archiv in the menu): https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/passau.html

Still on flood level 4 but likely to go to level 3 during the night.

 

notamermaid

 

I cannot say how much I appreciate your posts. Such a wealth of information and so kind to share. You know so much more than my TA and the Web links are so useful.

Think I will be cancelling unless Avalon beat me to it. Things may be vastly improved in 10 days but it doesn't look like things will be back to normal. I have the sort of insurance where I will end up with a credit, not a refund so be looking to reschedule.

I live in Sydney, Australia, and believe or not, we are also having flooding in some areas!

[brian1]

14 hours ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

I know it’s usual for a Yorkshire man to moan but on this occasion I was more than happy with our refund. It’s paid for our impromptu Easy Jet flight from Munich to Manchester, the two nights we’ve just had in the Cotswolds and will also pay for our Holiday in Cyprus in September. All in all, very happy.

The way to look at it is we've had a 6 day AI minicruise for £1700 and enough left over for 2 more land holidays this year.

[Izengolf]

https://www.afdj.ro/en/content/danube-water-level

 

Lower Danube still showing green with some gauges predicted to rise over the next 2 days.

[notamermaid]

Very slow receding waters still. Pfelling gauge still over one metre above highest permitted level for river traffic. All in all the situation has eased since yesterday though. Now only Hofkirchen and Vilshofen on flood level 4.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[austinetc]

I understand that most (all) of the concern on this thread is water levels in Germany and Austria. We're cruising on Viking to Constanta this fall. Are water levels below Budapest something to be concerned about? Is there a good source for up to date information?

[Izengolf]

8 minutes ago, austinetc said:

I understand that most (all) of the concern on this thread is water levels in Germany and Austria. We're cruising on Viking to Constanta this fall. Are water levels below Budapest something to be concerned about? Is there a good source for up to date information?

You can check the Lower Danube levels in Romania here:

https://www.afdj.ro/en/content/danube-water-level

 

This site covers the whole Danube:

https://danubeportal.com/waterLevel

 

As does this one:

https://www.google.ro/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.danube-cycle-path.com/danube-flooding.html&ved=2ahUKEwjF0_iw2syGAxUGg_0HHb6lDjMQFnoECCsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw11_q6ngSiRcq7tVZmWp3EY

Edited June 8 by Izengolf

[notamermaid]

From what I read online in German, not many people are worried about it as it is manageable, but we need to note that it is raining quite bit over Southern Germany today. What could it mean for the Danube? Some tributaries are still draining a higher than normal volume of water into the river and the Upper Danube, i.e. German Upper, is still relatively high. The reaction of the Danube will come fast, but as of now this will not create a peak of sorts. What we can say is that draining the Danube catchment area will take longer with any substantial amount of rain that falls. It may mean that the river cruise ships will be stuck for a few hours longer than if it did not rain. Right now though the relevant gauges are still showing declining levels. At Donauwörth on the really young Danube the level is set to rise. At Ingolstadt and Kelheim the improved graphs may level by tomorrow evening and not go down. At Passau, improvement hour on hour is now slow. Rain clouds are moving over the Isar and Inn tonight with substantial rain hitting the border area with Austria near Salzburg. Upper Austria has ended flood warning on the official page but notes that the levels will stay very high and there is rain forecast. The levels may rise again and the authorities will stay vigilant. It looks as if Austria, apart from the joint Danube with Germany, is fully open to river traffic. Budapest gauge looks to have reached its peak and should start falling during the night.

 

The improved map of Bavaria:

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Wasn't there something about a ship supposed to be in Frankfurt today, Saturday? I really nearly forgot that, so much has been happening. The stricken TUI Isla, as you can guess, is still in Deggendorf. She is not the only ship still stranded on the Danube in Germany of course. Levels are starting to fall below HSW, the highest permitted level for river traffic, but the authorities are not yet allowing river traffic to resume anywhere, according to the information service for river traffic. It sounds as if this will be done in one, i.e. when all the gauges have fallen to the permitted level. The wording by the authorities as of today, valid till 11am tomorrow:

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

One ship I had not noticed before is the Viking Idi, she is in Straubing. Her destination was last updated on 1 June, so I guess she has been in the spot since then:

 

And for brief comparison to 2013, here is the river level at Passau as of now: 811cm. In 2013 on 8 June at this time the level was at 784cm. As I said in a previous post, the river peaked on the 5th of June in both years. In 2013 it had dropped from a far higher level and was lower than we are seeing it now, so we can clearly see that the water takes longer to leave the German Danube. I had got the impression that this was the case and read a weather reporter mentioning it this morning, so I checked the figures.

 

On the Rhine things are good for now, but the Upper Rhine valley is facing a potential river traffic ban again. The wave will not be very high and most likely not cause major problems at the gauging stations downstream from and including Mannheim.

 

notamermaid

 

[AHMIowa]

On 6/5/2024 at 1:36 PM, Kenster said:

But they could use another ship that is already upriver. 

Interesting - how did you learn it would be there until the 12th?  I feel so in the dark, which is, I suppose, where they want us. 

No problem with a ship swap, but I do want to be in a ship. 

[notamermaid]

The Avalon Imagery II is in Schwabelweiß:

 

Passau gauge may react to today's rain with a small rise on Monday.

 

notamermaid

 

[Microman123]

We experienced the Viking GE cruise from B to A from May 27 to June 10th LAST YEAR. Boy, do I feel lucky! There are so many people impacted on these rivers this year - Locals, who may be "used to it", but still have to survive and clean up afterwards PLUS all the river cruisers that didn't / don't know about this very helpful forum. Thank-you to NOTAMERMAID!  You're about to be hearing from more future cruisers after this recent deluge from the heavens. 

[RDVIK2016]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

The Avalon Imagery II is in Schwabelweiß:

 

notamermaid

 

It appears that Avalon Imagery II was on a planned cruise from Basel to Budapest, got as far as Regensberg on the 29th of May and could not go farther. She should be in back in Regensberg on Monday the 10th on a Budapest to Amsterdam trip. Will be interesting to see which direction Imagery II goes now.  Her current location is at the industrial harbor in the Ostenviertel of Regensberg, across the river from the Schwabelweiß district.

 

This long term high water event will really test the abilities of some cruise companies to reposition their ships to recapture as much of their schedules as possible.

[steamboats]

Levels are dropping everywhere although we do have rain here in the South. But it´s not as much rain as we had during those days which caused the big floodings.

 

From Deggendorf to Passau the levels are on 3 but dropping. Upriver from Passau it´s 2 and 1 (Regensburg) or even back to "green".

 

So it´s definitely getting better fast. The wave is now going downriver and may cause higher levels there.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Thank you for your kind words.

18 hours ago, Microman123 said:

We experienced the Viking GE cruise from B to A from May 27 to June 10th LAST YEAR. Boy, do I feel lucky!

A great trip through Europe and I am sure you took home fantastic memories, perhaps a few souvenirs as well.

 

Perhaps someone is interested: the river levels were good at that time last year, the figures at Pfelling were just right but went low shortly after. I thought I would make a timeline from the brilliant service of the Bavarian authorities with your Danube cruise week and the corresponding cruise week of this year, together with the year in between the two. Look at the vast difference:

 

For a rough guide you can take a ruler and place it from on top a little below the 300cm, where the line is still visible below that, i.e. creating a white space, is a level that was likely too low for a large river cruise ship. Slide a ruler from the bottom of the graph upwards and everything that is still visible a bit over 600cm was probably affected by a river traffic ban. That kicks in on paper at 620cm at Pfelling.

 

Pfelling is now at 647cm and painfully slowly receding.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

There is one more ship still tied up where it should not be and that is the Avalon Impression:

 

She got stranded at Kelheim and is as you can see on the Altmühl. Confused? That is actually the Main Danube Canal which at this point is the engineered Altmühl river. The Danube is coming from the left in this screenshot.

 

German regional news picked up the topic and says that the ship had gone through the lock on Sunday morning (2nd of June) and then was told that traffic on the Danube had just been banned, so they had to stop in Kelheim. The passengers were supposed to be taken off the ship during the day and then presumably taken to Linz. https://www.mittelbayerische.de/lokales/landkreis-kelheim/flusskreuzfahrtschiff-strandet-hinter-kelheimer-schleuse-prognostizierter-scheitel-wurde-nach-oben-korrigiert-16167153

 

The situation has improved now of course. It has been a long week for the Impression but she will soon be able to sail again.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

That really looks better, doesn't it?

 

notamermaid

 

[Microman123]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you for your kind words.

A great trip through Europe and I am sure you took home fantastic memories, perhaps a few souvenirs as well.

 

Perhaps someone is interested: the river levels were good at that time last year, the figures at Pfelling were just right but went low shortly after. I thought I would make a timeline from the brilliant service of the Bavarian authorities with your Danube cruise week and the corresponding cruise week of this year, together with the year in between the two. Look at the vast difference:

 

For a rough guide you can take a ruler and place it from on top a little below the 300cm, where the line is still visible below that, i.e. creating a white space, is a level that was likely too low for a large river cruise ship. Slide a ruler from the bottom of the graph upwards and everything that is still visible a bit over 600cm was probably affected by a river traffic ban. That kicks in on paper at 620cm at Pfelling.

 

Pfelling is now at 647cm and painfully slowly receding.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for the Memories! It was a great trip and I have been watching the conversations this year with much sympathy. Timing is everything , but we cannot control nature.  Unfortunately I am fearful we have many more tough lessons from her in our future.

[Microman123]

13 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

There is one more ship still tied up where it should not be and that is the Avalon Impression:

 

She got stranded at Kelheim and is as you can see on the Altmühl. Confused? That is actually the Main Danube Canal which at this point is the engineered Altmühl river. The Danube is coming from the left in this screenshot.

 

German regional news picked up the topic and says that the ship had gone through the lock on Sunday morning (2nd of June) and then was told that traffic on the Danube had just been banned, so they had to stop in Kelheim. The passengers were supposed to be taken off the ship during the day and then presumably taken to Linz. https://www.mittelbayerische.de/lokales/landkreis-kelheim/flusskreuzfahrtschiff-strandet-hinter-kelheimer-schleuse-prognostizierter-scheitel-wurde-nach-oben-korrigiert-16167153

 

The situation has improved now of course. It has been a long week for the Impression but she will soon be able to sail again.

 

notamermaid

 

Unfortunately it appears that the Viking Modi is still stuck in Passau, which she should have departed from on June 2. Cruisemapper shows her as doing the Viking Grand European B to A starting on May 28th. That schedule indicates she should be arriving in Amsterdam the morning of June 10th. I don't think she'll make it.  

[notamermaid]

10 minutes ago, Microman123 said:

That schedule indicates she should be arriving in Amsterdam the morning of June 10th. I don't think she'll make it.  

Like quite a few other ships will not get to or have got to where they are or were supposed to be. The disruption to itineraries is substantial. Ship swaps really only work (to passengers comfort I may add) if you have enough ships being in good locations. A long complete closure of the Danube in Germany and a short part time closure in Austria is BIG. And then we had the Rhine - and the low bridges on the Main... In theory, you can of course do a ship swap of a ship on the Main Danube Canal and in Linz on the Danube, but who wants to travel 200odd km by coach? In that way flooding is a bigger problem on the Danube than low water. That is normally only a quick coach ride between Regensburg and Vilshofen (shortest usual version). And if necessary a quick coach ride into Budapest from Komarom.

 

But to the good news: ships are moving between Straubing and Kelheim as the ban was lifted earlier! So the lucky Viking Idi, having been in the harbour at Straubing, is able to go to Regensburg.

 

This means of course that the Avalon Impression can move as well. But if her itinerary is completely out of sync there may no be no point in moving tonight of course.

 

Straubing to Passau I am afraid has not been given the go ahead by the authorities. This means that the TUI Isla will remain in Deggendorf.

 

notamermaid