Rhine - water levels and similar topics 2015

Not a Mermaid:

Thanks, so much, for all your weather reports. I lived in Pirmasens, Germany way back in 1954 to 1957 and I remember that I never saw the sun. My Mom kissed the ground after returning. She had come over on the Il d' France but could not wait to get out of Germany so she flew home. My first daughter was 1-1/2 when we flew home. ;)

I guess I forgot how much I froze there, even after we moved into government housing from living on the economy. I booked the Viking Var for 23 November from Prague (Nurenburg) to Koln (Frankfurt).:eek:

Thanks for the info., notamermaid. Sure gets hotter than I thought it would. I guess I figured it was rare to see temps above 90. I hope we don't melt! :(

Yes, JVilleGal, I agree. Weather has not been 'normal' here in So. Cal. either.

Nor has the weather been normal in Southwest coastal British Columbia (Pacific Northwest). Very little rain during May and June (typically rainy months), lawns are already burnt (usually this doesn't happen until August). Hot temps in the mid 30C.

If our Guvments would quit flying the aircraft over, dropping the CHEMTRAILS, we would have regular weather. The Eluminate are trying to kill us because they feel the earth is over-populated. :eek:

Hello Di Princess,

shame you only seem to remember the more dreary days in the town Pirmasens and the surrounding countryside. But, although I have never been there, I must admit that I am not exactly a friend of that foresty area myself, I prefer my valley.

Heatwave in western Europe

If you are heading to Europe in the next few days be aware that it will be hot in a lot of places from London, Paris, parts of Spain (i.e. hotter than usual) to Germany.

My family sighed a "oh no!" in unison looking at the weather forecast yesterday. As I live in one of the warmest areas of Germany I have to expect up to 38 degrees or 100 Fahrenheit on Saturday. :eek:

Perhaps I should not have mentioned 100 in my last post...

Thought I could get a fast train and head over to the East but that will not do much good as it forecast to get up to 34 Celsius in Dresden.

Please, may I jump onto a river cruise ship and use the pool?

notamermaid

Got through the heatwave o.k. but work was definitely unpleasant. :(

It is again heating up in the West of Germany with thunderstorms forecast for Thursday evening and Friday evening.

The water level has fallen accordingly but is not classified as low level yet by the official bodies.

notamermaid

Thank you for keeping us updated Notamermaid!

We leave Saturday for a Amsterdam to Basel cruise with a week after in 3 different regions of Switzerland. To say that I am finding packing challenging is a understatement. Temps are all over the place. We live in Chicago so I am used to changing weather!

Do you expect Rhine levels to remain at the current levels for the next week or so?

Got through the heatwave o.k. but work was definitely unpleasant. :(

 

It is again heating up in the West of Germany with thunderstorms forecast for Thursday evening and Friday evening.

 

The water level has fallen accordingly but is not classified as low level yet by the official bodies.

 

notamermaid

Thanks for posting! We are leaving in two weeks so I will bother you then for an update :)

Notamermaid - Does the Rhine have the potential to have low water problems like the Danube is currently experiencing? I'm wondering if I should come up with a Plan B if our cruise gets canceled. :confused:

Hello Di Princess, shame you only seem to remember the more dreary days in the town Pirmasens and the surrounding countryside. But, although I have never been there, I must admit that I am not exactly a friend of that foresty area myself, I prefer my valley.

Heatwave in western Europe If you are heading to Europe in the next few days be aware that it will be hot in a lot of places from London, Paris, parts of Spain (i.e. hotter than usual) to Germany. My family sighed an "oh no!" in unison looking at the weather forecast yesterday. As I live in one of the warmest areas of Germany I have to expect up to 38 degrees or 100 Fahrenheit on Saturday. Perhaps I should not have mentioned 100 in my last post. Thought I could get a fast train and head over to the East but that will not do much good as it forecast to get up to 34 Celsius in Dresden. Please, may I jump onto a river cruise ship and use the pool?

notamermaid

I think you ARE a Dear Mermaid and I am so appreciative of all your great posts, especially about the weather and the river conditions. ;)

I guess that Germany is like the U.S. in that the East is always a lot cooler than the West. Yes, after 57 years, I am sure I will see some differences in lots of things.

You are obviously an American. May I ask how you landed up in Germany? :confused:

Thank you for the nice replies, especially Di Princess.

Regarding my personal history: born and bred in Germany, while well-travelled in Western Europe. My native language is indeed German with first-hand training of English in the British Isles. I just cannot get myself to writing "vacation". I always go on holiday;)

From experience I expect the river levels to fall further as it is really hot. It is not possible to predict how much water the thunderstorms will bring. There would have to be widespread rain allover the area to keep the river at the current level.

But please do call or contact your river cruise company if you are getting worried, anyone. They will have direct knowledge from the ships captains, I am sure.

Sailing in low waters is tricky and can keep a ship at a dock while 10 kilometres further on the ships might be sailing still. A few days ago I saw a machine similar to a dredger getting rid of a sandbank of sorts in the navigation channel.

One note on geography: the Danube is on the other side of the European water shed so the situation is often different from the Rhine over there.

notamermaid

We sail from Amsterdam on Sept 11..... Please tell me this "should be" safe??????

Trying to not worry about needing a Plan B :(

We sail from Budapest on the 20th Aug I also hope there is some rain soon!!!

We sail from Budapest on the 20th Aug I also hope there is some rain soon!!!

Love your name "wombat"!!! :) I'll pray for rain.

We sail from Amsterdam on Sept 11..... Please tell me this "should be" safe??????

Trying to not worry about needing a Plan B :(

Sorry, but we all don´t have a reliable longterm weather forecast!

steamboats

Get out your Crystal Ball :D

Sorry, but we all don´t have a reliable longterm weather forecast!

 

steamboats

Actually not expecting you to do that, but more a question about historically is early to mid Sept another troubled time for water levels. Yes I know you can't predict! Just asking historically....

Thank you for the nice replies, especially Di Princess.

 

Regarding my personal history: born and bred in Germany, while well-travelled in Western Europe. My native language is indeed German with first-hand training of English in the British Isles. I just cannot get myself to writing "vacation". I always go on holiday;)

 

From experience I expect the river levels to fall further as it is really hot. It is not possible to predict how much water the thunderstorms will bring. There would have to be widespread rain allover the area to keep the river at the current level.

But please do call or contact your river cruise company if you are getting worried, anyone. They will have direct knowledge from the ships captains, I am sure.

 

Sailing in low waters is tricky and can keep a ship at a dock while 10 kilometres further on the ships might be sailing still. A few days ago I saw a machine similar to a dredger getting rid of a sandbank of sorts in the navigation channel.

 

One note on geography: the Danube is on the other side of the European water shed so the situation is often different from the Rhine over there.

notamermaid

Thanks so much for the info. notamermaid. Your English is excellent and we really do appreciate your first-hand knowledge. We leave in just a couple weeks and I really have no Plan B if the Rhine is too low and the cruise is cancelled. It would really mess up our "holiday" :D plans for the next 18 mos.

To the other posters-I wasn't asking anyone to predict the weather, just if the Rhine is typically like the Danube as far as water levels go.

I must compliment you on your English skills, Mermaid. ;)

I really like the Brits use of Holiday. Living in Southern California, I am also praying for better weather all over our beautiful planet. Thunderstorms are predicted here for this weekend. Yeah, right! Still praying. :D

I must compliment you on your English skills, Mermaid. ;)

 

I really like the Brits use of Holiday. Living in Southern California, I am also praying for better weather all over our beautiful planet. Thunderstorms are predicted here for this weekend. Yeah, right! Still praying. :D

With the heavy El Nino predicted, you may get your prayers answered.

I've been watching Viking Kavasir, our ride in about a month, on this site http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:330447/zoom:10

It arrived in Basel today ready for it's departure tomorrow back to Amsterdam. I'll keep watching and let you know if I see any problems.

Frank

Love your name "wombat"!!! :) I'll pray for rain.

Thanks..lol I will pray too😀

Mt sister is currently on the Scenic Pearl that left Amsterdam for Budapest on Thursday 16th. She tries to keep us all updated on her trip on a daily basis and when she last contacted me (overnight our time down here) Scenic had not mentioned any possible problems with water levels (but do they ever?). They are currently still on the Rhine and are not scheduled to reach the Danube for a couple more days.

I've got my fingers crossed that the waterways remain passable as she and her husband saved for many years to take this trip and an expensive bus holiday was certainly not on her agenda.

Mt sister is currently on the Scenic Pearl that left Amsterdam for Budapest on Thursday 16th. She tries to keep us all updated on her trip on a daily basis and when she last contacted me (overnight our time down here) Scenic had not mentioned any possible problems with water levels (but do they ever?). They are currently still on the Rhine and are not scheduled to reach the Danube for a couple more days.

 

I've got my fingers crossed that the waterways remain passable as she and her husband saved for many years to take this trip and an expensive bus holiday was certainly not on her agenda.

Thanks for the report! :)

We leave in just a couple weeks and I really have no Plan B if the Rhine is too low and the cruise is cancelled.

It's not that difficult to get around the area on your own, between public transportation, trains, and rental cars. We will be there in 2 months, mostly around Mainz, but we'll visit other places along the Rhine and Moselle.

We were in the exact situation that you fear - 2 years ago, we suddenly had to totally reinvent 2 weeks of holiday, due to the terrible Danube flood of 2013. We had no trouble finding places to stay on short notice; in fact, we didn't finalize the plans and reservations for the second week until we were already in Germany, halfway through the first week.

The trip was fantastic! Of course, it's all due to Chris' impressive planning skills; she has enough on her agenda to have a plan A, B, and C!