Acqua Alta
 

Leaving for Venice next week. Have heard that November is one of the key times for Acqua Alta. Does anyone know if it has started yet?<BR><BR>Thank you.

We were there in Sept. (18-20) and it was starting then.<BR>Of course, it is most likely to happen during full or new moon. It was about 1 foot deep in St. Marks square. They put up walkways to get along the lagoon from near the bridge of sighs to the edge of St. Marks square where ground level is high enough.<BR><BR>The walkways are about 30" wide and 2-way traffic, complete with traffic cops that tell you not to stop to take pictures in from of St. Marks.<BR><BR>See http://www.photoloft.com/home/s_html.asp?s=fshp&u=1256049&a=1177505<BR><BR>Good luck.

I was in Venice at the end of October during a full moon (awesome) but did not experience aqua alta. The elevated sidewalks were stacked around the city in readiness, though. We were able to determine, by reading signs posted at the vaporetti stops, that only certain areas of the are affected by high water, and that each episode only lasts for several hours. I'm almost sorry that we didn't get to experience it! I wouldn't let the prospect of aqua alta affect any plans you might have for going to Venice. <BR><BR>Maurice, the link that you posted only brings up Photoloft's home page. Would love to see your photos.

My understanding is that Aqua Alta depends on a combination of<BR>tides, wind, and rain. Many hotels have a supply of boots if it occurs. Piazza San Marco is most affected because it has the lowest elevation.

Yes, the Aqua Alta only affects lower-lying areas - mostly around St. Marks. There were a few back alleys and squares that were "puddled"; I have a photo of a gondolier lying on his back and tilting his gondola to get under a footbridge. Some of the steps down into side canals had water up to or just over the top step. Ca' D'Oro on the Grand Canal side had water lapping over the "ground level" dock on the Canal side.<BR>The highest tides occur during alignment of sun and moon; add to this any weather effects that slop the Adriatic Sea northward, and I'm not sure why spring and fall aggravate the situation, and you end up with an erratic high tide level. It is an experience...<BR>The temporary footpath supports are about knee high or so - I assume only the most extreme conditions exceed this in St. Marks square.

I'd like to see more on this. I may be able to squeeze another trip to Europe this fall and would like to see Venice. Anyone else have any comments. I would be going about 11-26 to 12/05. Any suggestions?

This is what they give me for a link:<BR> &lt;a href="http://www.photoloft.com/view/Album.asp?s=fshp&u=1256049&a=1177505&i=8387222"&gt ;Italy Part 2&lt;/a&gt;<BR><BR>So, this should be the link:<BR>http://www.photoloft.com/view/Album.asp?s=fshp&u=1256049&a=1177505&i=8387222<BR> <BR>I hope it works...

You have to take both lines and jam them together without a space.<BR>Like so...<BR> ...view/Album.asp?s=fshp&u=12...<BR><BR>If that doesn't work, who knows. I just uploaded them to get prints.

Your photos are gorgeous, Maurice--especially the night shots. What kind of camera were you using?

I had heard about Venice being damp and cold in November, but we were just there (Nov. 1 to Nov. 6), and the weather was fabulous. Blue sky and daytime temperatures in the mid 60's

Web cam on the Grand Canal. Click on the picture to see larger version. Seems to be updated every couple of minutes.<BR><BR>http://turismo.regione.veneto.it/webcam/index.htm

Good afternoon, ME<BR><BR>Was in Venice, last November 6 when the<BR>sirens started about 300pm, water<BR>started to come up in the Pza S.<BR>Marco, shortly the water reached<BR>almost a meter deep., It was high<BR>probably caused by the tide and the<BR>winds blowing from the South. We<BR>has purchased boots, however some<BR>hotels do have them for use by their<BR>guests....Water raised until it<BR>reached about six inches deep in our<BR>hotels lobby. Most ristorantes were closed, but water stopped rising<BR>about 7PM and by 11 had started to<BR>go down. Many shops were flooded<BR>on their first floor and any items<BR>on the floor were damaged. Was<BR>a very good experience, as it is<BR>something you may experience only<BR>once in a lifetime. Richard of Lagrange Park,m Il...

Oh, good - the album is publically visible...<BR><BR>I had a Fuji FinePix 4900z digital camera. The original Pics are 2400x1800 pixels and will blow up cleanly to 8x10. I love that camera.<BR>I need a tripod for night shots or low-light indoors. I got very practiced at taking pictures without being obvious (Sistine Chapel and Last Supper don't like photographers!).

Is there any way of telling when there might be an acqua alta? We are visiting next weekend, and I've been searching for a website that gives some kind of forecast, or even tide tables. It would be great to decide on Thursday whether we need to take boots or not rather than lug them over unnecessarily.

There's a link to an acqua alta forecast site (Venice Centro Maree) on the VeniceWord website:<BR>http://www.veniceword.com/weather.html<BR>The box at the bottom right of the VeniceWord page explains how to read the tide/acqua alta chart.

Today's Italian papers report acqua alta in the Colosseum in Rome!

Isn't there a system in place so that an alarm is sounded for an impending rise in waters, similar to what's done for Tornado warnings in Midwest??? Has anyone actually been there when an acqua alta occurrence has begun?<BR>