A low-water river
The Rhine
Next 12 months
water = chance the month goes as planned · dot = live forecast
Sep*
Oct*
Nov*
Dec*
Jan*
Feb*
Mar*
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Last five years, month by month
The five years before each month, most recent on top · marks are months that hit low water · solid = a week or more
RAIN · Alpine headwaters (Chur, Basel): last 45 days 277 mm vs 361 mm normal (-23%) · next 16 days 63 mm vs 118 mm (-46%)
Middle Rhine at Kaub
the Rhine gorge between Rüdesheim and Koblenz, the bottleneck for every Amsterdam to Basel itinerary
KAUB -2 cm · low
- Today vs 30 years
- p0.5
- Status now
- low water now
- The trouble line
- 915 m³/s
- This week
- 1% as planned
Weekly outlook · 30 weeks
2026-09-272027-04-04
Upper Rhine at Maxau
the upper Rhine at Karlsruhe, the approach to Strasbourg and Basel
MAXAU 287 cm · low
- Today vs 30 years
- p0.6
- Status now
- low water now
- The trouble line
- 692 m³/s
- This week
- 1% as planned
Weekly outlook · 30 weeks
2026-09-272027-04-04
Lower Rhine at Lobith
where the Rhine enters the Netherlands, feeding the Amsterdam approach
MODEL 667 m³/s · low
- Today vs 30 years
- p0.7
- Status now
- low water now
- The trouble line
- 1139 m³/s
- This week
- 1% as planned
Weekly outlook · 30 weeks
2026-09-272027-04-04
Has it been like this before?
Yes. The Lower Rhine at Lobith sat at almost exactly today's flow in 2018, within 0.2% of where it is now.
Here is what the river did over the six weeks after each of the closest years. Nothing here is a forecast. It's the measured record.
| Year | Date | Flow | vs today | Back over the line | Days low of the next 42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | October 17 | 669 m³/s | +0.2% | not in six weeks | 42 |
| 2003 | September 27 | 737 m³/s | +10.4% | after 11 days | 24 |
| 2009 | October 5 | 797 m³/s | +19.4% | after 8 days | 16 |
| 1997 | October 7 | 854 m³/s | +28% | after 5 days | 17 |
| 2020 | September 25 | 862 m³/s | +29.2% | after 3 days | 2 |
The pattern is the useful part. In every one of those years the river climbed back over the line, and it took between 3 and 11 days to do it. What it didn't do was stay there: in the harder years it dropped back under repeatedly through the autumn. That is why a cruise in a low-water spell usually means a rerouted day or two rather than a lost holiday.
Flow figures are the European Union's GloFAS record for Lower Rhine at Lobith, measured on September 26 and the same date in each earlier year. The line is the level below which this stretch has run only 12% of the time in thirty years.
Where these numbers come from: how it works. Still picking a date? Start with when to go.