How has snowfall been this winter? (Water Levels)

[MarkBearSF]

We're cruising the Rhine in mid-April. I've started fretting about the water levels. (I know - it's not as if there's anything I could do about them, right?)

I've been wondering how this Winter's snow levels have been in Germany and nearby - and whether that's the major consideration for water levels in April. In California, we get almost all our precipitation in Winter and the mountain snowpack is the major determinant of river levels; I'd think that it would be a major factor for Spring, at least.

34 days and counting....

[steamboats]

Mark,

Let´s say I don´t remember having that much snow (actually we´re up to 10-12 inches) at this time of the year for such a long period of time. Currently it´s still snowing (slightly).

But by next week temps are rising and everything in the lowlands will be melting. So I do expect rising rivers during the next two weeks.

The snow melt in the Alps will be later. But it all depends on the weather. A combination of snow melt and rain is usually not a good thing.

During the last few years we had very mild and dry Aprils. But who knows...

steamboats

[MarkBearSF]

Thanks Steamboats.

I remember that last winter was brutal, but didn't hear much this year. I also figured that although rains would be the primary consideration for water levels in the summer, that snow melt would be a big part of the spring levels.

[ingo_e]

The skiing season in the alps goes until end of april. And thats what makes the snow impact so hard to calculate: Snow in the midlands melts in March /April, but in the higher regions of the alps in May.

[franski]

What impact (if any) do high water levels have further east? We are cruising from Romania up to Budapest... and am not sure if this area has the same potential for flooding.

Fran