Rhine water levels 2016 and similar topics

Looks like we will be in AMS at the same time - we are sticking around until the 10th

Hello travelin-nat,

Ditto. We sail Saturday.

 

Notamermaid - any idea how low it needs to be for them to have to bus passengers to ports?

No, not really. The decision to sail in low water is in the end entirely down to the captain, the local authorities only decide in high water situations. So, it depends on which ship you will be sailing on. Draught is one deciding factor. The ability to sail can differ from stretch to stretch and day to day. You might get rain in the Upper Rhine Valley but the next day you might not be able to sail in the Middle Rhine Valley.

Currently, the whole Rhine, i.e. every stretch, is a little on the low side (yet not reporting official low water levels this morning), it really depends on where rain will fall in the next few days. It would say another four days without any rain, could become problematic. But that is a rough estimate.

I see you will be on Viking. They tend to swap ships rather than immediately "do a bus tour all the way" if a stretch becomes impossible to sail. You can check their update on sailings online.

I am sure you will have a great cruise.

notamermaid

We will be doing Rhine Getaway (Basel to Amsterdam) at the end of October. First River Cruise.

As the water is a bit on the low side at the moment, and presumably has been for a little while, how come Freya hit the bridge the other day?

Another question about that. I imagined that the river authorities kept the officers informed about water levels so how was it possible for the boat to hit the bridge?

Hello Jay23,

the Viking Freya hit two bridges in the Main-Danube-Canal, only about a hundred metres apart. The thread on the accident has some info on that. The canal is not affected by the fluctuating water level in the way a natural river is. The situation at the time on the canal was different. A lot of the bridges on the canal are low and the ships recently built have specifications that involve a height suitable for sailing under the bridges with little headroom, hence the fact that on the canal the sun deck is closed and the railings are down as standard as a safety measure.

Have a great cruise on the Rhine in October.

notamermaid

Thanks for the info. We will be on Viking Tialfi. I'll be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Yes, we plan to have an amazing vacation. Regardless, we will be in beautiful country. [emoji4]

Hello Jay23,

 

the Viking Freya hit two bridges in the Main-Danube-Canal, only about a hundred metres apart. The thread on the accident has some info on that. The canal is not affected by the fluctuating water level in the way a natural river is. The situation at the time on the canal was different. A lot of the bridges on the canal are low and the ships recently built have specifications that involve a height suitable for sailing under the bridges with little headroom, hence the fact that on the canal the sun deck is closed and the railings are down as standard as a safety measure.

 

Have a great cruise on the Rhine in October.

 

notamermaid

Thank you. Oh dear. It looks like a big mistake was made on the Freya. So very sad.

We are having a very sunny weekend in the Rhine valley at mild temperatures. Yesterday I saw the first autumn mists floating over the river. Not much has happened lately, luckily, apart from small incidents like a mild bump of a barge against another and a World War II bomb found near the river at Duisburg, diffused succesfully without much disruption to everyday life.

 

But, here comes the negative bit. The river levels have fallen, as it is so sunny and there has been hardly any rain lately. Moselle and Rhine, as well as the Neckar, have "lost water" a bit so that the first gauging stations are reporting low status. It is a situation we reckon with every year, depending on rainfall August and September can be low. Last year was extreme though, to say the least. As these cut-off points for reporting low or normal water are based on a ten year statistical average, it does not mean one will automatically encounter problems. Yet it is something to watch. I will report back if it gets worse.

 

The weather will stay mild with more or less no rain forecast for the next three days.

 

notamermaid

We are sailing on the Viking Kara from Basel to AMS on Nov 13th-20th - I appreciate your reports and I will follow the river level along with your posts. Thank you Jan

Hello oceanview,

happy to help. A couple of figures this morning. The water level: Iffezheim (Upper Rhine Valley) is at 162 cm, Koblenz (Middle Rhine Valley) is at 105 cm.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

Notamermaid….where do you get your water level information from? That's great that you can watch the daily fluctuations.

Thanks for your continued reports! Watching closely...

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Hello NJCruiserBoy,

now that you are asking... perhaps I should share this website. Here goes: https://www.pegelonline.wsv.de/gast/start

I need to explain that this is an official federal state website. It is a little difficult to follow and there is no English version of it. I find it more comfortable for others if I just post some relevant figures.

There are regular updates and they work 99,9% of the time. There have been a couple of computer hiccups recently, giving weird readings. All the figures are put in relation to statistical averages. This should be seen in context with what is actually happening on the river, i.e. what you can see when "looking out of the window". That is why I do not report on the Danube and do not give much info on the Elbe. I live by the river Rhine and can relate what I read to what I see. It makes it easier to interpret the figures. But when you follow the figures over a period you get an idea of how a river behaves and hopefully can deduct the information you need quite well.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful.

Will you go on river cruise soon?

notamermaid

The latest official report with the translated title "No significant change to the low water level situation" indicates that the rise in water levels on the Elbe was just temporary and as the warm weather persists with little rain due to fall in the next three days the levels are likely to fall again.

The Rhine has fared better but is now also suffering from lack of rainfall.

Today is a sunny day, again unseasonably warm.

River traffic will potentially feel the affects over the weekend as the level is due to fall. Here is the graph for Koblenz. In blue are the levels measured, red show the predictions and outlined red are the rough estimates further away: https://www.elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/Wasserstaende/wasserstaendeUebersichtGrafik.html.php?pegelId=4c7d796a-39f2-4f26-97a9-3aad01713e29

Drag the mouse over the squares and the figure will show up.

The level will fall below one metre at the station in Koblenz.

notamermaid

Wishing a rainy October, November, and early December. :rolleyes: We want a Christmas Market Cruise, not a bus tour.

We have had a rainy day so far in the Middle Rhine Valley but it is brightening up now. The water level at Koblenz is now at 100 cm, a little higher than predicted due to the recent rain but it is unlikely to make much of a difference. Weather is forecast to get warmer and dryer again over the next three days.

CPT Trips, I am sure we will get lots of rain in November, if there is a cold spell we might even experience early snow (o.k., looks unlikely at the moment, but it is possible). I do not want people to get soaked at the last wine festivals of the season in October or ruined Erntedank festivities (similar to Thanksgiving but without the turkey and great excitement). But November with rain is fine by me.

notamermaid

Are any river cruises currently being affected by the water levels?

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Hello Parrothead,

Are any river cruises currently being affected by the water levels?

 

 

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I would love to know this, nothing has come to my attention yet. German river cruise companies do not have a habit of publishing updates online and there is not that much in the news, we are used to low levels. Reports only come in when the situation gets exceptional.

A little bit of background on the water level figures. Worms (upstream from Mainz) this morning reported 88 cm. That is low but does not mean one cannot sail. Captains relate this to the depth of the navigation channel and the draught of their ship. The Rhine is not a natural river, even where it is allowed to flow freely, away from the locks that is, it has been dug out to guarantee shipping. The navigation channel is deep in the Upper Rhine Valley and the Lower Rhine Valley but there is a stretch in the Middle Rhine that has a minimum guaranteed depth of 1,90m only. Although the Rhine can be quite deep in the gorge, just before those deep spots a ship with a deep draft can run into problems. As there are bends and shallows the navigation channel is in places not so wide, resulting in single file traffic for example, reported by a river cruiser last year.

Where and when problems exactly and specific to his ship occur only the experienced sailor / captain / water engineer can say.

It is around this situation we have now that barges sail with half-load only, or even less than that. Day cruise ships leave out some stops as they have to get out of the deep navigation channel at some of the ports to dock. That problem also arose with some (110m) river cruise ships in Andernach last year.

In the Middle Rhine Valley it might be the case that river cruisers will just be spared ship swaps and cut-short cruises this year. Would be great, there was enough of that last year. And nature is thankful of the little rain we have had. Although the grapes loved all the sunshine and dry weather. Hope this makes for a good wine this year. :)

Which reminds me: the time of the young wine is approaching, it is called Federweisser, one drinks this lovely stuff that is still fermenting with caution. :D

Sample and enjoy while you are in the country, you cannot transport it home.

notamermaid

Thanks Notamermaid. I haven't seen anyone experiencing problems with water levels on any of the other threads either, so hopefully no news is good news! I guess I will know this time next week! [emoji4]

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Despite some rain over the last two days the water level has not really risen and is below 1m at Koblenz. At the current rate prediction is for a level of 82cm on the 6th. That is the last prediction, after that it is a "rough estimate". See the link in post #312. It is regularly updated.

I hope the forecast is not correct.

The temperatures have fallen to autumn standards. They will stay below 20 degrees in the next four days. There will be little rain.

Oh, and have a great cruise, ParrotheadG!

notamermaid

Thanks for the kind wishes, and for all the help you continue to provide on this thread!

It is chilly in my area in the Middle Rhine Valley today, as there is a cold wind blowing from the Northeast. It is sunny and dry and in the sun it is pleasant. This morning my neighbour said: "Better get the potted plants into the house soon, nightfrost is coming." And I decided to get my light winter jacket out. If you are sensitive, do not forget hat, scarf and gloves, your early morning excursions will probably be a little chilly. It think it was 6 degrees early this morning.

I mentioned Worms the other day. The river level there has fallen to 78cm. Koblenz is currently at 92cm. Forecast shows the levels as falling further.

notamermaid

We sailed through this morning. So beautiful! It was downright cold on deck. We were treated to hot chocolate with a shot of brandy, and they were handing out heavy blankets. That wind just blows right through you.

Hey Nat...any fall colors there?

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Hey Nat...any fall colors there?

 

 

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Yes - some.

Hope the photo is not too large - not sure how to adjust the size

Hello travelin nat,

Thank you for the photo. That is the Schönburg at Oberwesel. This is what the Oberwesel website says about it: http://www.oberwesel.de/en/sehenwuerdigkeiten/schoenburg-castle/

The castle was apparently restored by a family called Rhinelander from the US. Now that is an odd fact!

The autumn colours will take another three to five days to be clearly visible among the still green foliage, the vines in my garden have turned into red and an appealing brown in the last four days. But last night we already had a beautiful October evening sky.

Now, here comes the bad news: the river level at Worms has fallen to 73cm and the one at Koblenz to 84cm, that one is now on low level status.

notamermaid