Rhine water levels 2024 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The conditions appear to have improved on the French section already so that is good for the next stretch across the border in Germany.

We should have a look at the French river and the Grand Canal d'Alsace. This is what the flood vigilance is showing tonight:

The green line furthest to the right is the Rhine river. See that one section is on yellow still. A couple of days ago the whole green Rhine was on yellow, too. So that is better now. Running North almost parallel to the Rhine is the river Ill (capital I, two small ll). At the top in the screenshot it reaches Strasbourg before joining the Rhine a little bit downstream. The city is actually not on the modern-day Rhine, that is, the old town is not and no river cruise ships dock in town. Both rivers have been heavily engineered so both the Ill after it has left the picturesque old town and the Rhine with its harbour at Kehl on the German side, where a lot of river cruise ships dock. Strasbourg administration has of course harbours out of town and river cruise ships can dock in these (industrial/commercial) places.

 

You can see it here on marinetraffic.com:

The blue dots are either river cruise ships or excursion boats.

 

The Ill is only navigable in a very small section for motorized vessels (excursion boats and those using the canals coming off the Rhine). Otherwise it can only be used by canoes, etc.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Monday I was asked about conditions on the river, as regards sailing on 1st July. With being two days closer to the date, let us have a look. The hot weather is already causing thunderstorms in the Vosges mountains and the Black Forest. With rain falling also East of Lake Constance, that is staying above 500cm. With no rain having fallen in the Upper Rhine valley, Maxau gauge is having a real dip, down to 660cm. It will not leave flood vigilance and is likely to go up again during the evening. The modelling for the next three days puts the Upper Rhine valley on high but manageable levels, with the thunderstorms having an impact that will be considerable but not substantial enough to cause problems. Note that the river is officially high on the High Rhine so there may be minor adjustments in the Basel area that I cannot know about.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

It has certainly been hotting up and for today the authorities have put much of Germany on heat warning level 1. It is basically summer really. But they like to keep us informed. If you are out and about do have water ready and sun protection is a very good idea. During the day we will be moving towards thunderstorms. Those warnings are for the Eastern side of the Neckar and around the "young" Danube basin, etc.. So that water will at its Northern end of the band of clouds go to the Main, in the middle to the Danube and at the Southern end to the Rhine via the Eastern tributaries feeding Lake Constance. We will see how that develops. It looks to me as if the computer modelling has been amended taking into account that more rain clouds are moving East of the Rhine valley rather than feeding the Rhine and its Upper Rhine valley tributaries directly. So that is good for sailing.

 

In other news: yesterday, the Olympic Flame came to France. It was carried over the border from Weil to Huningue on the Dreiländerbrücke, the "Bridge of three Countries". Here is a German report, you can probably find something in English, too: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/suedbaden/olympisches-feuer-in-baden-wuerttemberg-weil-am-rhein-100.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Brief update. Thunderstorms so far not having a real impact. Maxau gauge high but looking relatively stable over the next three days.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Here is a headline that caught my eye and I admit I stumbled over the language used: "Xanten: Römerschiff macht Probefahrt auf Südsee". Firstly, why would a newspaper in the Xanten area report this? A Roman ship? A test sailing in the South Sea, that is thousands of miles away! The real meaning is that a replica of a Roman (military) ship went on a test sailing at Xanten on the South Sea. In German it is in der Südsee, but in the headline it was shortened and the auf used which means that it was on the lake called Südsee at the town of Xanten in North Rhine-Westfalia. It looks a splendid boat: https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/ruhrgebiet/xanten-roemisches-boot-auf-suedsee-100.html

 

Xanten has a Nordsee and a Südsee, great fun for confusing people. Where did you go on holiday? Nordsee ((North Sea)). The Netherlands? No, Xanten...

 

This is the Lake (no English website available, although the URL indicates that you in your realm may be fed an English page if you search for it): https://www.xanten.de/de/tix/naturbad-xantener-suedsee/

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Izengolf]

Notamermaid, I noticed your The Gentleman and my SS Victoria were moored in Cochem one behind the other this morning.  If only I was young enough to know the eyebrows raised emoji!

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, Izengolf said:

your The Gentleman and my SS Victoria

Should be some sort of sophisticated soap opera, love story type, a feature film or a four-parter, of people getting stuck in a port on the two ships, title "Victoria and The Gentleman" (the twist is that they are actually the names of the ships). Lady on one ship sees this dashing young man on the other ship while rafting. You have the title folks and the basic story, please feel free to embellish and write a bestselling novel. 😊

 

Talking of which, I have just remembered: a German TV station is shooting a new series in - Cochem!

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Notamermaid, I noticed your The Gentleman and my SS Victoria were moored in Cochem one behind the other this morning.  If only I was young enough to know the eyebrows raised emoji!

We'll soon find out if it really is a Gentleman.  If it leaves her behind after one night – The Cad!!!

[notamermaid]

55 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We'll soon find out if it really is a Gentleman.  If it leaves her behind after one night – The Cad!!!

Well, I would say it was only a "brief encounter". He has moved on towards Trier and she is still in Cochem:

 

 

We are awaiting the thunderstorms, coming from France. Clouds are coming over the border via the Saarland. Some fan zones have been closed as a precautionary measure. Germany is playing tonight so people are out and about watching the game at beer gardens and basically in some town squares where event organizations have put up huge television screens.

 

I am staying at home, am not a fan of fan zones. As Dortmund's stadium where the match is taking place will be in the path of the thunderstorms there is a certain nervousness as regards to what will happen.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

As Dortmund's stadium where the match is taking place will be in the path of the thunderstorms there is a certain nervousness as regards to what will happen.

Final score is Germany 2, Denmark 0. Have a look at the photos if you like, the game had to be halted due to the torrential rain. Commentators during and after the match could not resist a few plays on words with thunder and lightning . https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2024/jun/29/euro-2024-germany-v-denmark-live#maincontent

 

One caption says that the roof was supposedly leaking. That is what I will have to check with me here, quite a bit of rain...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Brief update. Lake Constance is stable, not much of note is happening around Basel as regards the river's levels. Maxau gauge is high but looking okay. The figures there should stay in the range of flood vigilance but under 700cm, so just ups and downs without extremes. Good. With a bit of cooperation from the clouds (no downpours) this will stay manageable this coming week.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I must admit that I exclaimed a cry of surprise and delight when I noticed that the "Otto" has been able to sail on since her accident at Bad Abbach on the Danube. She is pushing the hull of a river cruise ship to Hardinxveld in the Netherlands for outfitting. If you happen to be in Cologne today you may see her sailing past - within an hour.

 

For a bit of webcam television: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/koeln-hyatt-regency-hotel.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The SB Otto, a push boat, has now finally safely delivered the "NB 212" to the shipyard. This was quite a journey for the hull. I have put the story in the Danube thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2984995-danube-water-levels-2024-and-similar-topics-plus-tips-and-info/page/29/#comments

 

I followed her journey a bit through the evening last night. She had docked near Mainz overnight and entered the Rhine Gorge in slightly misty morning clouds left over from the thunderstorms the previous night. Bingen webcam:

 

There is a slight glitch in the camera image so parts of the stern of the Otto are not visible.

 

Just after 8pm she sailed past the crowds at Düsseldorf watching football. I think the game had actually finished a few minutes before this screenshot:

 

Later, passing a quieter spot, the ferry at Kaiserswerth, between Düsseldorf and Duisburg:

 

There are several webcams along the Rhine's embankment and positioned high on hills for a view over the valley. Many have excellent resolutions. The Düsseldorf ones are pretty good, the ferry one my computer struggled with. I like the ones at Rees as well but it was dark by the time the Otto passed through so I have no screenshot from those.

 

The webcams.

 

Bingen (mentioned in a previous post):

https://heimatzeithotels.panomax.com/bingen

 

Düsseldorf:

https://www.duesseldorf.de/webcams/rheinufer-1

https://www.duesseldorf.de/webcams/burgplatz-1

 

Ferry:https://www.ipcamlive.com/rheinfaehre

 

Rees: https://www.stadt-rees.de/tourismus-freizeit/rhein/webcam/

 

 

Water levels: no real change to forecast. June recap coming soon.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Another bomb has been found, this one is just outside Mainz city centre and will interrupt railway traffic tomorrow during defusing. The evacuation zone does not extend to the main shops or the river embankment.

 

In other news, Mainz (and places close to Mainz) expect an increase in the number of mosquitos this year as we had flooding in the breeding grounds right into June.

 

With the increased rain in the last 36 hours, the river is rising again. This is keeping Maxau gauge well in the flood vigilance zone in the figures giving the prospect of the river rising above 700cm. It is now at 672cm. Question is, has flooding in July happened before? Yes, it has. It is a rare occurrence but does show up in the long-term statistics. But the rest of the week will most likely be okay, just being a bit unpleasantly high.

 

It cooled down a lot after the thunderstorms and today has been another day of grey skies with some rain.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[JYMM]

When the Maxau gauge is high, which areas of the Rhine cannot be reached?  We are travelling next week from Amsterdam to Basel.  If it is too high, will we be unable to reach Strasbourg and Basel by boat?  Can the boats still pass under the bridges if the water level reaches above 700 cm?  At what height are the boats stopped?  Thanks for all your information.

[notamermaid]

50 minutes ago, JYMM said:

When the Maxau gauge is high, which areas of the Rhine cannot be reached?

All can be reached as per what the river conditions are as such, but the river traffic ban is for this section here, that is Germersheim to Iffezheim (see figure below):

 

50 minutes ago, JYMM said:

If it is too high, will we be unable to reach Strasbourg and Basel by boat?

That is correct, see figure below.

 

50 minutes ago, JYMM said:

Can the boats still pass under the bridges if the water level reaches above 700 cm?

I am not aware of any problems at bridges in the area, they have a lot of headroom but I cannot rule out any problems as I am not aware of details. Closer to Basel there is a low bridge but that will not be something to be deduced by the level at Maxau but by Hauenstein gauge and Basel itself.

 

50 minutes ago, JYMM said:

At what height are the boats stopped?

750cm at Maxau gauge. Other gauges determine river traffic bans for other sections.

 

At this point in time the risk of a river traffic ban at Maxau is negligible. It is statistically possible. 700cm has a high probability. Saturday we will know more.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited 23 hours ago by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

We still have high levels on the Rhine so to show why I will start the look back at June with the graph for Lake Constance:

 

At the beginning of the month the level was well above the mean, which due to snow melt is not unusual for Spring of course. But then we saw the weather front which stayed in the South of Germany basically, rotating and bringing heavy rain. The Lake soon reached flooding status. This huge body of water is slow to drain and at this time of year is still fed by some snow melt. So with additional rain and higher temperatures the Lake could not return to a more normal level for this time of year. The level remains very high and on official flooding status. This - together with a higher than normal volume of water from the rivers in Switzerland - gives us continued high levels in the Upper Rhine valley.

 

notamermaid