Monthly maps for discharge anomalies and Lowest alert level exceedance with a summary of the monthly hydrological situation.


Hydrological situation for January 2023

Figure 1. Exceedance of lowest discharge threshold level for January 2023
Figure 1. Exceedance of lowest discharge threshold level for January 2023
Figure 2. Exceedance of lowest water level threshold level for January 2023
Figure 2. Exceedance of lowest water level threshold level for January 2023
Figure 3. Classification of stations according to discharge historical data average percentile ranges for January 2023
Figure 3. Classification of stations according to discharge historical data average percentile ranges for January 2023

by EFAS Hydrological Data Collection Centre 

During the month of January, there were 257 stations with exceedances, 29% more than in the previous month. The majority of stations are in Spain (44)and in Italy (27) with exceedances related with water levels. Croatia (23), Bosnia and Herzegovina (22) and Sweden (19) also stand out this month.

In addition to these areas, there are also stations in Germany and Ireland (17 each), Serbia (15), Poland (12) and Ukraine (11). Several countries have less than ten exceedances this month: Hungary and Slovakia (9 each), Slovenia (8), Belgium (6), Romania and Norway (4 each) , Iceland and Luxembourg (3), Kosovo (2), and only one station with values above the threshold in Austria and Lithuania.

As for the river basins, the main one with values above the threshold is again the Danube, with 91 stations in ten different countries, with Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia standing out with more than ten exceedance each. The Minho river in Spain is the next basin with the highest number of stations (26) showing exceedances for water level and discharge. The Rhine river basin, in Germany and Luxembourg has 18 threshold exceedances.

In terms of the stations that recorded values above the 90% quantile, 219 exceeded this threshold in January, more than twice the previous month. In January, Spain was the country with the most stations in this situation (57), twenty more than in December. Norway (27), and Sweden and Ukraine (21 each), are the countries with the next highest number of stations. The Spanish stations are distributed in 11 different basins, highlighting the Minho river, with more than the half of the exceedance from Spain. In Norway, the Glomma river basin has the highest number of exceedance in the country. In Poland, 13 stations show values above this quantile. In Croatia there are seven stations that exceed this cliff, and six in Hungary. Other stations exceed the 90% quantile value in up to 19 countries.

By river basin, it is the Danube River that stands out with 61 stations. This river has exceedances in  nine countries, with the highest number of stations (11) in Romania and Slovenia. The aforementioned Minho river basin is the second with the highest number of stations over this cliff. A total of 64 different river basins have exceedances over the 90% quantile in January.

Finally, and according to the number of stations recording mean values below the 10% quantile, we can find a decrease of about 34%. In the month of January, there were 41 stations with average values below this cliff, which occurred across ten different countries.

This month, Spain is the country with the most stations (18), followed by Poland with five stations. Germany and Austria have four stations with values below this threshold, followed by Norway with three stations.  France, Italy, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Bulgaria also have a different number of stations in this situation.

In terms of river basin, this month the Ebro is once again the river with the highest number of cases, with 11 stations with an average discharge below the 10% quantile. The Danube river, in Austria, Romania, Germany and Bulgaria, has seven stations in the same situation. The Llobregat river, in Spain, and the Oder river in Poland have six and five stations under this cliff. In total, as many as 14 different basins have values below this limit.