Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[Canal archive]

We’ve been warned about Green- Grey Algae especially in our canals it’s very nasty if ingested  or it gets into eyes or cuts.

[RDVIK2016]

10 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

River levels. Lake Constance now steadily on figures around 332cm. Maxau 459cm, on the downward slope. Likely to fall below 400cm again on 24 August.

 

Most importantly, Kaub gauge: nice steady rise, now at 71cm. Forecast adjusted down, no 148cm anticipated anymore. You can see why I was skeptical on Friday. But it is still looking good, 100cm basically certain for tomorrow, 130cm still looks a convincing estimate, but the highest figure now given is 143cm on Tuesday. My money is on 140cm maximum.

 

So Tuesday is going to be the peak, how fast the level will fall after that is not clear yet.

 

notamermaid

 

It has been a surprise to me that the water levels in the rivers rise so far so quickly, even without heavy rains over a large portion of the entire watershed. Now I can better understand when there are unusually heavy rains that bad floods can come quickly, such as on the Ahr last year or on the Danube at Deggendorf and Passau a few years ago. 

RDVIK

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

It has been a surprise to me that the water levels in the rivers rise so far so quickly, even without heavy rains over a large portion of the entire watershed. Now I can better understand when there are unusually heavy rains that bad floods can come quickly, such as on the Ahr last year or on the Danube at Deggendorf and Passau a few years ago. 

RDVIK

This should also be the answer to the many outraged posts lately "since the river levels have been so low for three weeks, why hasn't my cruise line cancelled my cruise three weeks hence?" – because, as we have just seen, one good thunderstorm system can get the ships back to sailing for a while and your cruise may not involve any itinerary change at all.  [not aimed at anyone in particular...]

[OwenSmith]

AIS tracking data on vesselfinder.com shows plenty of quite big ships in the Rhine Gorge now. A few days ago there were none.

[Yorkshireoldlad]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This should also be the answer to the many outraged posts lately "since the river levels have been so low for three weeks, why hasn't my cruise line cancelled my cruise three weeks hence?" – because, as we have just seen, one good thunderstorm system can get the ships back to sailing for a while and your cruise may not involve any itinerary change at all.  [not aimed at anyone in particular...]

Very true - but it’s human nature to worry, especially when you’ve spent so much money. We’re doing A to Budapest, leaving A on 30th August and I’ve been looking anxiously at water levels. We can cancel up to day before and get a full credit, but really don’t want to as this is the rebooking of a Caribbean cruise, that was itself the rebooking of a China trip with Viking. We really want to get away now and as Viking gave us incentives each time the previous cruises got cancelled, we are taking the view that even with some disruption, we have got a good value. Hopefully though the latest forecasts for the Rhine over the next 14 days are accurate and this would mean no ship changes on Rhine. ( It also helps as we are coming from England, so no long expensive transatlantic flights to factor in.)

All the river cruise companies are on a hiding to nothing. If they don’t contact customers, they get asked why, but if they do, a lot of passengers who haven’t been checking will suddenly ask questions and consider cancelling, so the cancellation guarantees such as ours could now cost them a lot, just as they are trying to get back on their feet.

[notamermaid]

3 hours ago, OwenSmith said:

AIS tracking data on vesselfinder.com shows plenty of quite big ships in the Rhine Gorge now. A few days ago there were none.

Yes indeed! And: hooray! Good to see them back. A screenshot, one Viking ship docked another big vessel just backing out of Koblenz (as I think I can make out from the wake):

 

So have we got them, the 100cm? Yes, Kaub gauge is at 117cm. Forecast for evening indicates 140cm and above.

 

Right, time to relax, for me - and many, many anxious river cruisers! 😄

I am going shopping. See yah.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[gentlemancruiser]

5 hours ago, OwenSmith said:

AIS tracking data on vesselfinder.com shows plenty of quite big ships in the Rhine Gorge now. A few days ago there were none.

Myshiptracking is also a very good website for finding vessel/tracking your ship.   

[RDVIK2016]

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This should also be the answer to the many outraged posts lately "since the river levels have been so low for three weeks, why hasn't my cruise line cancelled my cruise three weeks hence?" – because, as we have just seen, one good thunderstorm system can get the ships back to sailing for a while and your cruise may not involve any itinerary change at all.  [not aimed at anyone in particular...]

I will now enjoy observing how quickly the water levels drop (or not) depending on the weather during the next days and weeks. As far as the Rhine is concerned I think the areas to watch for rain would be most of Switzerland (except for around Lake Geneva), and cities along the Moselle and Main. 

[CPT Trips]

Interesting item about findings as a result of low water. https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/stories/2022/08/21/drying-rivers-reveal-historical-treasures?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew&mid=619a8ca4659878ca12b1f572eb8d3ea4

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

I will now enjoy observing how quickly the water levels drop (or not) depending on the weather during the next days and weeks.

Well, I think we can all guess they will drop at least slowly and steadily. A bit of info to feed into the translating machine, from the low water report dated 18 August: "Im Laufe der kommenden Woche sind wieder weniger Niederschläge besonders im
Rheineinzugsgebiet vorhergesagt, daher ist keine nachhaltige Entspannung der Nied-
rigwassersituation zu erwarten."

 

In short, in my words: keep on expecting low water for weeks to come. Not necessarily a ship not sailing, but be prepared.

 

So what should be expect now that the wave has passed Maxau? Modelling puts the level firmly under 400cm by latest Friday and may mean that the level drops to official mean low water again on Saturday. If that happens as a consequence we will see a drop at Kaub that we may need to watch again as regards river cruising. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it. There may be rain before that happens. And the Main brings a varying volume of water that is no reflected at Maxau as that gauge is too far South.

 

A quick look at the other gauges:

Koblenz, so close to Kaub that it has obviously gone up nicely as well, now at 100cm.

Cologne, still on official low water, but the wave has reached there, now at 107cm.

Emmerich, not profitting yet really, at 5cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[floridababa]

Today I would of boarded my Basel to Amsterdam on scenic for 14 days which was cancelled last week 😞

[OwenSmith]

1 hour ago, floridababa said:

Today I would of boarded my Basel to Amsterdam on scenic for 14 days which was cancelled last week 😞

That cruise also goes on the Moselle and I've seen nothing about Moselle water levels, but they won't have benefitted from the rain in Switzerland.

[OwenSmith]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Modelling puts the level firmly under 400cm by latest Friday and may mean that the level drops to official mean low water again on Saturday. If that happens as a consequence we will see a drop at Kaub that we may need to watch again as regards river cruising

Well our ship Amadeus Imperial (135m) has passed through the Rhine Gorge and is now docked at Rudesheim, so looks like that is the ship we will start our cruise on from Basel. But given we leave Basel the evening of Thursday 25 Aug sounds like we've missed the best of the wave and water might be low again. The question as always is how low.

[notamermaid]

My comment: "Modelling puts the level firmly under 400cm by latest Friday and may mean that the level drops to official mean low water again on Saturday. If that happens as a consequence we will see a drop at Kaub that we may need to watch again as regards river cruising"

 

And the quote referencing that:

26 minutes ago, OwenSmith said:

Well our ship Amadeus Imperial (135m) has passed through the Rhine Gorge and is now docked at Rudesheim, so looks like that is the ship we will start our cruise on from Basel. But given we leave Basel the evening of Thursday 25 Aug sounds like we've missed the best of the wave and water might be low again. The question as always is how low.

 

I think the timeline may not be so clear. The level at Maxau dropping below 400cm and further on Saturday means that the level at Kaub will drop more or less accordingly (unless we get tons of water from the Main) a good day or so later but this does not lead to low water at Kaub on Saturday yet. The by then slower decline will happen into next week at Kaub.

 

The question - I agree - is indeed how low, something we cannot know but the modelling exists and I will just hint at the suggested high probability of the level falling to 80cm on 29 August. It is computer modelling and always to be looked at with caution.

 

I will come back to that in another post.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

15 hours ago, OwenSmith said:

That cruise also goes on the Moselle and I've seen nothing about Moselle water levels, but they won't have benefitted from the rain in Switzerland.

The Moselle is fed by the Vosges mountains, the Meurthe and the Saar mainly. The whole navigable stretch for large ships is controlled by locks and the navigation channel is maintained at a depth that makes the Moselle of no concern. So far I have only heard of a minor problem at Koblenz in 2018.

 

As a side note: on a large river cruise ship an itinerary going from Amsterdam onto the Moselle is a good choice for reducing the likelihood of interruptions due to low water, you divert away from the Rhine Gorge that way. A wise choice of ship helps further.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:29 PM, notamermaid said:

So have we got them, the 100cm? Yes, Kaub gauge is at 117cm. Forecast for evening indicates 140cm and above.

 

14 hours ago, notamermaid said:

modelling exists and I will just hint at the suggested high probability of the level falling to 80cm on 29 August. It is computer modelling and always to be looked at with caution.

 

Yeaahhhh, hmm, something went - unusually - very wrong with the forecast. Where is the 140cm at Kaub? Not there, as the level peaked at 128cm and has gone down to 124cm. Which results in a highly adjusted forecast that says the level is very likely to fall to 110cm on Thursday. Rain is forecast for Saturday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[gentlemancruiser]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

Rain is forecast for Saturday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

fingers crossed.   

[notamermaid]

57 minutes ago, gentlemancruiser said:

fingers crossed.   

My memory is failing me at the moment - are you leaving on Saturday for your river cruise? The link to the youtube channel is blocked, i.e. I cannot even get a starting page from which I could subscribe to it. The instagram looks really nice, will you cover your trip on your account?

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Quick update to what is happening on the Lower Rhine. Cologne gauge has risen to 154cm and appears to be levelling off. Emmerich gauge is rising nicely and is now at 20cm. This means the Netherlands can now finally benefit from the rain in Switzerland and the Upper Rhine valley. The wave has reached Lobith just beyond the border.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Cleopatra99]

9 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

 

As a side note: on a large river cruise ship an itinerary going from Amsterdam onto the Moselle is a good choice for reducing the likelihood of interruptions due to low water, you divert away from the Rhine Gorge that way. A wise choice of ship helps further.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for all of your excellent advice. We are thinking of booking Basel to Amsterdam with Scenic ("Romantic Rhine and Moselle'). From what I have read it seems low bridges and low water are less of an issue on the Moselle ... but what should we expect on the Rhine along that itinerary ?

[notamermaid]

14 minutes ago, Cleopatra99 said:

From what I have read it seems low bridges and low water are less of an issue on the Moselle

Low bridges can be a problem in flooding, that is when the water is very high, just before the authorities ban river traffic. River traffic is halted in flooding but not in low water. Low water is almost no issue on the Moselle, i.e. you can basically forget about it.

 

 

17 minutes ago, Cleopatra99 said:

but what should we expect on the Rhine along that itinerary ?

The Rhine - you know low water... Flooding can occur as well of course. Again, a river traffic ban is then possible. Low bridges are not an issue as far as I know, certainly not in low water. Mean water or flooding - I know of no problems, but this does not mean they do not exist, they are few and may occur in areas of the Rhine that I am not familiar with. I remember reading about a bridge in Basel that a ship could not pass under. For that I refer you to the experienced river cruisers in the Upper Rhine valley. I have never heard of the sun deck being closed for any length of time. Again, this may be something that is rare and happens only in the Upper Rhine valley. Not sure.

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

2 hours ago, Cleopatra99 said:

Thank you for all of your excellent advice. We are thinking of booking Basel to Amsterdam with Scenic ("Romantic Rhine and Moselle'). From what I have read it seems low bridges and low water are less of an issue on the Moselle ... but what should we expect on the Rhine along that itinerary ?

Low bridges can be a problem on the German part of the Danube when the water level is high, and boats sometimes can not get under them even when lowering the wheelhouse and taking on as much ballast as possible.  On the Rhein-Main-Donau Canal there are low bridges and the wheelhouse has to be lowered for them, but the water level in the canal is controlled to the degree that it never gets too high to make it under.  A bridge at Bogen on the Danube can be a particular problem.

 

Once on the canal the wheelhouse on Viking Freya did not get lowered in time and the two crew members in the wheelhouse were killed when it hit a bridge over the canal near Erlangen.  On our Romantic Danube cruise a few years ago which continued beyond Regensburg, into the canal and on to Nürnberg,  we all had to stay off the upper deck and all furniture and awnings were laid down. 

[notamermaid]

Indeed, the Main and Main Danube Canal are notorious for low bridges. Unfortunately, this is always the case regardless of water level - that is controlled by the lock and dam system. In high water it will be worse to some degree but as a minimum depth of the river and canal are maintained the problem is always there.

 

If you are looking for a river cruise on the big rivers of Europe without any issues - well forget it. If you go for reduction of risk and inconvenience to the absolute minimum either go for Amsterdam to Trier or look beyond Germany to the Netherlands/Belgium or the Rhone and Seine. Not too sure about low bridges on both French rivers but they have not been mentioned as far as I can recall. But that is taking us elsewhere - back to the Rhine.

 

Brief late night look at Kaub: 119cm. Definitely on the down slope, but thankfully slowly.

 

By the way, when the thunderstorms happened around Lake Constance we did get brief rain overnight around where I live. It was so little that by the time I got up (I am a late riser when not at work) every trace of it had vanished in the thirsty soil and on the warm stones and tarmac. Tomorrow will see temperatures in Rhineland-Palatinate again rise to 32 Celsius.

 

notamermaid

 

[gentlemancruiser]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

My memory is failing me at the moment - are you leaving on Saturday for your river cruise? The link to the youtube channel is blocked, i.e. I cannot even get a starting page from which I could subscribe to it. The instagram looks really nice, will you cover your trip on your account?

 

notamermaid

 

We leave Saturday for Luxembourg.   AMACerto cruise starts in a week at Wasserbillig on Aug 30th.   Down the Moselle to the Rhine, and up the Rhine to Basel.   We'll be a Kaub on Sept1st.  Worst case scenario we're bussed from Koblenz to Heidelberg or Strasbourg. 

 

[gayles]

3 minutes ago, gentlemancruiser said:

We leave Saturday .for Luxembourg.   AMACerto cruise starts in a week at Wasserbillig on Aug 30th.   Down the Moselle to the Rhine, and up the Rhine to Basel.   We'll be a Kaub on Sept1st.  Worst case scenario we're bussed from Koblenz to Heidelberg or Strasbourg. 

 

We will be passing you as we leave Basel going up on August 30 (Viking).  Let's hope we pass on the river and not on the bus haha!