Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

19 hours ago, Yorkshireoldlad said:

Can I ask - is this a straight ratio conversion? What I mean is, if the Kaub doubles to 62cm, does the channel depth also double - to 286cm, or is it more complicated than that?

thanks

I think @RDVIK2016 has officially taken over from me explaining this 👍. I have nothing to add!

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

8 hours ago, travellovervic said:

Yes, that's where we are, nothing to see here!

V

I certainly hope the view improves from here. What a boring and slightly scary place to be in. A long way up the river for you today. Not that it is much consolation but at least they take you through the valley with a stop at Lorelei and Bingen.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

11 hours ago, UDChE89 said:

Viva has canceled their Picturesque Rhine cruise leaving 21.08.

Thank you for the info. I do prefer it when a company says they cannot keep enough of the original itinerary and decide to cancel.

https://www.viva-*****/en/information

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

14 hours ago, Bowler Lady said:

I see that it is raining now in Basel. And that it will continue through Saturday. Will this rain benefit the river and flow down where we need it through Rhine?

Yes, rain in Basel and Lake Constance will benefit the Rhine. However, with several locks and dams in the Upper Rhine valley that need water, the authorities may decide to regulate the flow. I am not sure how well they have maintained the standard depth there in the last few weeks. The land being so dry and the weather being hot, it may well look like considerable rain on the radar but not a good enough amount may reach the Rhine itself to give a good rise at Kaub.

 

Right now, the rain is staying East of the Black Forest, so the Rhine will only get the water from the High Rhine and Lake Constance and later on from the Neckar. It is raining in the Upper Neckar valley. Still, the good news is that Lake Constance has gained 4cm since last night and it looks to me to be more than fluctuating.

 

Update on Kaub, etc. to follow.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Right. Update on river levels - part one.

 

Not that much has happened yet. As I said, rain stuck in the Danube basin and beyond. I am hoping for proper rain in the valley from Breisach to Cologne tonight. We will see. The Lake is getting rain and it has rained a little in the valley, but not enough yet. Here are the graphs:

 

Maxau up to 359cm after a dip yesterday. Forecast sees a fast rise:

 

It looks enormous, but only brings the level well out of official mean low water. If it happens like this, it will obviously result in a rise at all further gauges but how much we will need to see tomorrow.

 

Kaub at 36cm:

 

and Koblenz at 32cm:

 

so no real change since yesterday, just two centimetres up.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

I think @RDVIK2016 has officially taken over from me explaining this 👍. I have nothing to add!

 

notamermaid

 

I'm just trying to figure it out in general terms.  It just confuses people to see the Pegel as the number always referenced when it is the depth of the navigation channel and draught of the boats and barges that really matters.  I live on a tidal estuary that is dredged to 40 feet for the ships and submarines that use the port, so the things that have to be considered in river navigation are so different from what I have been exposed to. 

[notamermaid]

24 minutes ago, RDVIK2016 said:

It just confuses people to see the Pegel as the number always referenced when it is the depth of the navigation channel and draught of the boats and barges that really matters.

Yes, it needs explaining to newcomers to the subject, so I am happy to explain again or refer back to earlier posts. Again, thank you for your help. Tidal estuary, that is definitely a very different environment. I live so far inland that I can easily forget about tides and the tide clocks in restaurants along the English coasts (the only ones I see) are a wondrous sight for me.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[gentlemancruiser]

 

Not sure if these number are legit or just more media hype??

The marker at Kaub, currently at just 35 centimeters (13.8 inches), is expected to jump as high as 148 centimeters on Tuesday morning

  https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rhine-water-level-forecast-to-hit-148cm-at-kaub-on-tuesday-1.1807723

[notamermaid]

Update on river levels - part two.

 

Cologne 75cm:

 

Emmerich -3cm:

 

Both are little more than just fluctuating.

 

So what is the forecast for Kaub if Maxau looks so promising? Well, I will not look towards next week yet as it is all tentative and the forecast will be adjusted tomorrow morning. For now we can say that it is looking good and promising. During the night the level will noticeably go up at Kaub and may reach 50cm tomorrow evening. Sunday will see a good rise most likely and that brings the 90cm into view for Monday. Everything better than that I treat with extreme caution.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

3 minutes ago, gentlemancruiser said:

 

Not sure if these number are legit or just more media hype??

The marker at Kaub, currently at just 35 centimeters (13.8 inches), is expected to jump as high as 148 centimeters on Tuesday morning

  https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rhine-water-level-forecast-to-hit-148cm-at-kaub-on-tuesday-1.1807723

 

I have just referred to that in my post above as treating that with extreme caution. It is not a forecast, but what I call tentative, a prediction based on something like 90 parametres. I saw that Bloomberg has picked this up, as a business site they would obviously.

 

I will cross that 100cm bridge when I come closer to it, i.e. tomorrow after the forecast has been updated.

 

But it is clearly promising for large river cruise ships!

 

notamermaid

 

[DavidPlunkett]

This is about the Danube, but I thought it might be of interest to some here:
 

Low Water Levels on Danube Reveal Sunken WW2 German Warships

[notamermaid]

Update on weather. Still no rain in the Middle Rhine valley. Small clouds forming over the Upper Rhine valley. Rainy area has expanded, but for now little is reaching the catchment area of the Main river. At least two thirds of the rainfall is still going to the Danube basin.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

I have just referred to that in my post above as treating that with extreme caution. It is not a forecast, but what I call tentative, a prediction based on something like 90 parametres. I saw that Bloomberg has picked this up, as a business site they would obviously.

 

I will cross that 100cm bridge when I come closer to it, i.e. tomorrow after the forecast has been updated.

 

But it is clearly promising for large river cruise ships!

 

notamermaid

 

I appreciate the way that ELWIS only gives a Vorhersage/Forecast for the current and next days and anything beyond that is only an Abschätzung, as in "estimate" or even "appraisal".  (Better that a wild guess, but maybe something my former co-workers might call a SWAG - Scientific Wild Ass Guess)

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

(Better that a wild guess, but maybe something my former co-workers might call a SWAG - Scientific Wild Ass Guess)

LOL. Abschätzung is indeed a computer based very scientific guess. And it is somewhat helpful, as is the probability chart that goes further into the future. From a business point of view it makes sense to have it, for loading your barge or tanker. You can vary that accordingly.

 

Still no rain on the radar for Rhineland-Palatinate, isolated groups of clouds are visible near and at the Neckar and in the Northern Eifel region towards Cologne.

 

Kaub gauge at 40cm.

 

I have mentioned Emmerich gauge on the Lower Rhine. It is the last gauge in Germany, not far into the Netherlands is the next one, called Lobith. The reference points in the Netherlands and the gauges are different, so I cannot calculate as I do on the German Rhine. But it is clear that the river must be low there also. The river will have a good depth but I have no details of how similar it is to Emmerich, I mean is the navigation channel depth the same as on the Lower Rhine in Germany or deeper? I will have to leave it at that question but I can say that the Netherlands is experiencing a drought and Lobith made it into the Dutch headlines as - just like Emmerich - having reached a new record low. Here is the article: https://nltimes.nl/2022/08/18/rhine-falls-record-low-water-level-dutch-entry-point-measures-readied-waterways

 

A screenshot of the webcam photo at Koblenz. Important is what you cannot see:

A Viking river cruise ship. They have been absent for days. Clearly I may have missed one, but in normal times you may find it difficult to take a screenshot without a Viking ship docked. And many times it is two as they here meet in the middle of the Amsterdam to Basel itinerary.

 

May we see them again next week?

 

Update from me around lunchtime or a bit later.

 

notamermaid

 

[OwenSmith]

We're meant to be sailing on Amadeus Imperial (135m ship owned by Luftner) with Great Rail Journeys from Basel to Amsterdam starting Thursday 25 August. We have an extension first to go from St Pancras to Jaungfraujoch by train, taking 2 days to get there with an overnight in Strasbourg. The extension is on, so presumably they think they can run the cruise. The ship is north of Cologne at present, so unless it can make it through the Rhine Gorge and Kaub we'll be starting on a different ship. Amadeus Silver III has just come out of the Main and is heading upstream so that sister ship might be what we start on.

 

This is a holiday delayed since 2020 for covid, so we've been really looking forward to it and were highly dismayed by the water levels. Hopefully all the new rain won't have disappeared down the river by Thursday.

[OwenSmith]

PS. I note the forum advises you not to use your real name when signing up. Well clearly I have, what else would I use? I don't go by aliases online.

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 minutes ago, OwenSmith said:

PS. I note the forum advises you not to use your real name when signing up. Well clearly I have, what else would I use? I don't go by aliases online.

Cruise Critic tries to maximize the privacy of its members, which is why we suggest using an alias [and an avatar that isn't your own picture].  If your privacy isn't important to you, stay with it.  Otherwise, send an email using your Cruise Critic email address of record to help@cruisecritic.com and include your current user name and a few choices for your new user name.

[Port Power]

1 hour ago, OwenSmith said:

PS. I note the forum advises you not to use your real name when signing up. Well clearly I have, what else would I use? I don't go by aliases online.

Think of it as a pen name rather than an "alias".  I think it is also really helpful to show your country in the avatar so that replies will be relevant to you.  For example, you are given suggestions relevant to the UK rather than USA.

[Canal archive]

Interesting report David Plunkett there is an American ship full of armaments sunk in the Thames estuary evidently if it blows it would be the biggest explosion ever recorded.

[OwenSmith]

48 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Interesting report David Plunkett there is an American ship full of armaments sunk in the Thames estuary evidently if it blows it would be the biggest explosion ever recorded.

It is deemed safer to leave it where it is than try to move it. The Thames estuary is quite wide at that point so it doesn't restrict navigation. Also the explosives are gradually leeching out into the water and being carried away, so eventually it will be safe without doing anything.

[OwenSmith]

8 hours ago, Port Power said:

Think of it as a pen name rather than an "alias".  I think it is also really helpful to show your country in the avatar so that replies will be relevant to you.  For example, you are given suggestions relevant to the UK rather than USA.

I put GB, England in when I signed up. That's plenty anonymous there are enough of us in England. But it doesn't seem to be showing in my postings.

 

EDIT: looks like that's a different field, I've fixed the displayed profile.

Edited August 20, 2022 by OwenSmith

[Canal archive]

Evidently the latest thinking is that’s debatable that’s why the exclusion zone around it has been recently extended.

 

Oh I somehow guessed you were a fellow Brit but it’s not always that straight forward, nevertheless welcome on board these boards.

[OwenSmith]

1 minute ago, Canal archive said:

Evidently the latest thinking is that’s debatable that’s why the exclusion zone around it has been recently extended.

I meant in 100 years or so all the explosives will have leeched out, not currently.

[notamermaid]

Due to bad experiences in life I would never ever use my real name online, or post photos from where I live, i.e. anything that puts me closer to placing me on the Middle Rhine. My name stands out from the crowd and I have been tracked and found online (with no bad outcome so far). Anyway,

 

hello to you @OwenSmith .

 

That ship in the Thames estuary is fascinating. When you go from Rochester over the Medway by train you see an old submarine there. I have often thought I should look at it, but have so far never got round to doing so. Been to Upnor Castle to listen to the story of a raid there. Recommended if you are into (old) naval history.

 

Apparently, a ship wreck at Neuss on the Rhine is also exposed now, but the articles are behind a paywall or "throwing advertising at me till I choke" cookie acceptance, so have not read them.

 

 

notamermaid

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by notamermaid
spelling

[notamermaid]

So have we got a good rise at  Maxau? Yes!!

Graph of Maxau gauge:

 

If there was any rain in my area during the night I did not notice it, the landscape is bone dry. But what is coming from the South of Germany will be enough to make the level at Kaub rise. The reaction is obviously some hours later than in the South, but is happening. Kaub gauge is now at 49cm and rising well:

 

notamermaid