Morning edition · Monday, 26 October 2026
The Rhine cleared the 2018 low by a hand
After four weeks below the worst day of 2018, the Kaub gauge averaged 31.3 cm on Sunday and read 52 cm at 05:15 on Monday. The weekend storm's rain is reaching the river.
The Rhine at Kaub, the shallowest stretch for shipping between Bingen and Koblenz, averaged 31.3 centimetres on Sunday, by this desk’s daily mean of the 15-minute readings published by the federal waterways administration1. At 05:15 on Monday the gauge read 52 cm1.
Line chart of the Rhine water level at the Kaub gauge from 25 September to 25 October 2026, as daily means of 15-minute readings in centimetres above the gauge zero, against a flat line at 25 cm, the lowest daily reading of the 2010–2020 reference period, set on 22 October 2018. The daily mean stays below that line for four weeks, falling below zero on several days, with the lowest mean of −4.8 cm on 1 October. It recovers to 19.7 cm on 13 October, dips to 8.8 cm on 18 October, reaches 25.9 cm on Friday 23 October, slips to 23.8 cm on Saturday and climbs to 31.3 cm on Sunday 25 October, the latest full day and the highest daily mean in the period shown.
Source WSV / PEGELONLINE, Kaub (Rhein) water level, 15-minute raw values retrieved 26 Oct 2026 05:25 CET · Datenlizenz Deutschland Zero 2.0 · daily means: desk arithmetic. Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (WSV), PEGELONLINE. Datenlizenz Deutschland – Zero – Version 2.0.
Data (CSV) · SVG · PNG
Latest values as a table
| Date | Kaub, daily mean | Lowest daily reading 2010–2020 (25 cm, 22 Oct 2018) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-20 | 19.2 | 25 |
| 2026-10-21 | 15.1 | 25 |
| 2026-10-22 | 19.1 | 25 |
| 2026-10-23 | 25.9 | 25 |
| 2026-10-24 | 23.8 | 25 |
| 2026-10-25 | 31.3 | 25 |
For context: the lowest daily reading of the 2010–2020 reference period was 25 cm, on 22 October 2018. From late September until Thursday this year the daily mean stayed below that line, falling below zero on several days, with a low of −4.8 cm on 1 October1. Friday’s mean of 25.9 cm put it just over; Saturday slipped back to 23.8 cm; Sunday’s 31.3 cm is the highest daily mean since at least 25 September1. Desk arithmetic: Monday’s 05:15 reading is about double the 2018 low.
The gauge number is not the water depth in the channel, which is deeper. But it is the number shippers and insurers price on. A few centimetres more at Kaub mean more tonnes per barge, fewer trips and lower freight surcharges, eventually even on heating oil delivered up the Rhine.
Do not expect a flood of relief. The Deutscher Wetterdienst expects a transition to calm high-pressure weather from midweek, with stormy gusts lingering on the North Sea on Wednesday2. Dry weeks follow storms, and the river remembers both.
What to watch
- Whether Kaub keeps rising this week; dry high-pressure weather follows from Thursday2.
- Barge loading: every few centimetres at Kaub is cargo a ship can carry.
A river does not recover in a headline. It recovers in centimetres, and someone in a wheelhouse counts every one.
Sources
- Kaub (Rhein), water level, 15-minute values — WSV / PEGELONLINE, retrieved 26 Oct 2026, 05:25 CET.
- Synoptische Übersicht Mittelfrist — Deutscher Wetterdienst, issued 25 Oct 2026, 10:30 UTC.
Every figure in this piece traces to a source above or to the desk’s own arithmetic on those sources, marked as such. Quotations are short and attributed. Spot an error? Write to the desk; corrections are logged on the method page.
Commentary for information only. Not investment, legal, tax, medical or political advice. Not an offer or solicitation. Analysis may be incomplete or wrong. Charts show published public data, not a trading feed; binding numbers live with the institutions that publish them.