Weather Data For Garmin Inreach and Others
If you are using sailmail or winlink email systems, I do not recommend you use this service. See our other weather page for services that are more compatible with larger text and gribs.
Garmin and other companies have a few text based email devices that are good for retrieving short messages. This service is primarily for InReach users, but it will work from any email device with no access to grib or normal long text messages like email.
This is a FREE service. As such it might break at any time and Garmin might shut down my access since they do not respond to my requests for developer access. It is unknown how long I can keep this service working for Garmin devices. Use at your own risk!
What is this?!
This is a tool for you to send extremely short requests and get extremely short messages of 160 characters each back. It caters to the Garmin Inreach device, but there might be others out there that find it useful.
Here is an example of an InReach device getting a weather response from wx@svsarana.com
Some inreach devices allow for direct tethering so you can use your phone interface to send email messages. In this case the follow image illustrates what that would look like
Basic Features
Send an email to wx@svsarana.com using ONE of the basic commands in the message body:
catalog
spot
gfs
rtofs
ww3
roms
gfdl
lat,lon
Message bodies must contain at least one valid command. If your GPS position is on land you might get all 0's back for an ocean model. In this case you'll need to specify your Lat/Lon for a position on the ocean.
With the inreach system your GPS position is reported and can be used to generate a forecast (however only gfs model will
provide data if you are on or close to land). If sending from InReach, you can send a blank message to get the 24 hour
forecast using the SPOT model.
Sending lat,lon will provide a 24 hour SPOT forecast for that location. For example 25.3N,155W or you can use any deliminator
like [space][comma][colon][pipe] – see “command options” below for more information and as a quick example, the lat,lon option could be expressed as:
12.3N 155W 12.3N,155W 12.3N:155W 12.3N|155W
Command Options
Some keyboards like on the InReach, using a space or comma might be most convenient for separating options. For rtofs, gfs and spot commands you can follow them with the Lat,Lon and some other options and you can use any of the following characters to separate the options so all the following examples with latitude and longitude values are valid:
General Form: spot:lat,lon|hours|heading,speed|utc=offset|stats Deliminators: [space][comma][colon][pipe] ==> [ ][,][:][|] spot 10N 155W spot:10N:155W spot:10N 155W,utc=-7 spot|10N|155W|utc=-7|stats spot,10N,155W,utc=-7,stats
HOURS option
In general if hours is not specified it assumes a 24 hour time period and does it’s best to just send a single message back. Sometimes it doesn't all fit in one response, but in general the default 24 hours will try to produce the most compact result. You can set hours to 24 up to 96 in 6 hour increments. Remember that the longer the forecast the more messages required to send the information
HEADING,SPEED option
This ONLY works for the SPOT model, right now. You can request a forecast along a path using the heading as true degrees and the speed in knots. The forecast will then use your time interval specified by HOURS (or if not specified, 24 hours is assumed) and will compute a series f latitude and longitude points and provide a forecast along that line. So if you plan on sailing at 150 degrees at about 5 knots, you would follow this example. Here spaces were used as delimators but you can use [space][colon][comma][pipe] as separators:
spot 12n 150w 150 5 utc=-10
NOTE: this option has to be used in pairs and do not mix up the order of HEADING,SPEED
UTC Option
To convert the dates and times to your local zone, use the UTC option to tell the forecasting software what your time zone is. For example Mexico is -7 or -8 depending on daylight savings and your time zone. Hawaii is -10
STATS option
The "stats" provides a statistical average from the forecast, which is good for just getting a long term overview in 24/48/72 hours.
spot,10N,155W,utc=-7,stats -- produces the following response for wind predictions:
24hrs: max/avg/min 12-17/11.2-15.4/10-14 @ 17.8 48hrs: max/avg/min 12-17/10.2-13.9/8-11 @ 11.4 72hrs: max/avg/min 12-17/9.2-12.6/6-9 @ 7.5
The ranges represent the values found during any given prediction interval. So for max wind 12-17 this means there were some
forecast values that only had max winds to 12 knots, whereas there were some other forecast results that had 17. For example if a
forecast had the following characteristics:
hour 1 - 10-12
hour 2 - 14-17
hour 3 - 15-16
The STATS shows max ranges from 12 - 17 for this time interval. The @ direction in degrees represents the geometrical average
of the wind direction over that time frame.
INREACH SPECIFIC OPTIONS
The Inreach device sends your GPS position of the unit to our severs automatically. If you want to get forecasts for your current location you can exclude the lat,lon options and just send one of the commands like these: [blank message will default to spot model and use current inreach reported lat, lon]
-
spot
gfs
gfdl
rtofs
ww3
roms
Background of Models
catalog -- produces a list of possible text regions from NOAA's meteorologists. This now works for many coastal areas in the US and Mexico/Central America region
and can be 6-7 messages long. This command returns a list of single word commands you can use to get the specific region’s catalog code.
PMZ-Pacific Mexico, Central America and N. South America
PZZ-Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska
GMZ-Florida 1
AMZ-Florida 2
PKZ-Alaska
HIZ-Hawaiian Islands
PHZ-Hawaiian Costal Waters
Sending the 3 letter code will produce the catalog codes for the specific forecast you want (see the end of this page for a full list). Since these lists are long,
it is best to know the codes ahead of time, rather than request the catalog which will take many messages to send. Ultimately you want
a code with 3 letters and 3 numbers like 'PHZ100' which would give you the Synopsis Hawaiian coastal waters within 40 NM
So for example sending the code '
spot is a virtual buoy model based on a composite of things. It contains wind (gfs) and sea state (ww3).
gfs works on ocean or land and provides temperature, wind, experimental precipitation estimates (see GFS)
gfdl is a climate model with cloud coverage and wind. It’s low resolution and only once a day.
rtofs is also ocean surface currents in text format but using a different model from oscar (see RTOFS)
ww3 is an ocean wave model with global coverage and is considered the standard for wave data. (see WW3)
The ww3 response appears like the following:
-----MESSAGE 1-------------------
03/13 23 Pk: 9.1' NNW 13s, S: 7.6' N 13s, WW: 4.9' ESE 7s
03/14 02 Pk: 9' NNW 12s, S: 7.1' N 13s, WW: 5.5' ESE 7s
-----MESSAGE 2-------------------
03/14 05 Pk: 9.1' NNW 12s, S: 6.4' NNW 12s, WW: 6.2' ESE 6s
03/14 08 Pk: 9.2' NNW 12s, S: 6' NNW 12s, WW: 6.9' ESE 7s
-----MESSAGE 3-------------------
03/14 11 Pk: 8.9' NNW 12s, S: 5.6' NNW 12s, WW: 6.9' ESE 7s
03/14 14 Pk: 8.6' NNW 12s, S: 5.2' NNW 12s, WW: 6.9' ESE 7s
-----MESSAGE 4-------------------
03/14 17 Pk: 8.5' NNW 11s, S: 4.9' NNW 12s, WW: 7' ESE 7s
03/14 20 Pk: 8.7' NNW 11s, S: 4.7' NNW 11s, WW: 7.3' ESE 7s
Pk: This is the total peak wave composite of swell + wind waves. Height in feet, Direction and period
S: This is the SWELL with height in feet, direction and period
ww: This is the Wind Waves with height in feet, direction and period
roms is a Hawaii Ocean Current model with coverage only for state of Hawai’i (see: ROMS)
New models are added from time to time as requested or as I want to use them.
CATALOG Options
Sending the "catalog" command will return the following list of specific catalog codes you can request. These responses can be long and might take up to 8 messages to get the full text response. Mexico Catalog commands available:
code => description PMZ001 => 'SYNOPSIS FOR THE E PACIFIC WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO', PMZ009 => 'MEXICO BORDER S TO 29N WITHIN 60 NM OF SHORE', PMZ011 => 'MEXICO S OF 29N TO PUNTA EUGENIA', PMZ013 => 'PUNTA EUGENIA TO CABO SAN LAZARO TO 250 NM OFFSHORE', PMZ015 => 'CABO SAN LAZARO TO CABO SAN LUCAS TO 250 NM OFFSHORE', PMZ017 => 'NORTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA', PMZ019 => 'CENTRAL GULF OF CALIFORNIA', PMZ021 => 'SOUTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA', PMZ023 => 'ENTRANCE TO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA AND CABO CORRIENTES', PMZ025 => 'MEXICO - MICHOACAN AND GUERRERO TO 250 NM OFFSHORE', PMZ027 => 'MEXICO - OAXACA AND CHIAPAS INCLUDING TEHUANTEPEC' PMZ101 => 'Synopsis for the E Pacific within 250 nm of C.A., Colombia, and 750 nm of Ecuador', PMZ111 => 'Guatemala and El Salvador to 250 nm offshore', PMZ113 => 'El Salvador to North Costa Rica including the Gulfs of Fonseca and Papagayo', PMZ115 => 'North Costa Rica to West Panama to 250 nm offshore', PMZ117 => 'East Panama and Colombia including the Gulf of Panama', PMZ119 => 'Ecuador including the Gulf of Guayaquil to 250 nm offshore', PMZ121 => 'Ecuador between 250 and 500 nm offshore', PMZ123 => 'Offshore Galapagos Islands'
Additional Zones are now available, see below. and they are
pulled from https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/MIAOFFPZ7.shtml
Sending code "pmz021" in a message would produce a series of messages like this:
-----MESSAGE 1-------------------
PMZ021-120415-
Southern Gulf of California-
806 AM PST Sat Nov 11 2017
.TODAY E winds less than 5 kt, shifting to NW in the
afternoon. Seas 4 to 5 ft in SE to
-----MESSAGE 2-------------------
S swell. Period 15 seconds.
.TONIGHT NW to N winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 4 ft. Period
15 seconds.
SU:NW to N winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 ft. Period 18 seconds.
-----MESSAGE 3-------------------
SU:NIGHT NW to N winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 5 ft. Period
17 seconds.
MO:NW to N winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 5 ft. Period 17 seconds.
MO:NIGHT NW to N winds 10 to 15
-----MESSAGE 4-------------------
kt. Seas 4 to 5 ft. Period
16 seconds.
TU:NW to N winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 ft. Period 15 seconds.
TU:NIGHT NW winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 4 ft. Period 14 seconds.
-----MESSAGE 5-------------------
WE:NW to N winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4 ft. Period
17 seconds.
WE:NIGHT NW winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 ft. Period 16 seconds.
The days are abbreviated to cut down on message size (TU: is Tuesday:, etc.)
Additional Catalog Zones Now include Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Florida, Hawai'i
Here is the full catalog:
HAWAIIAN INNER ISLAND WATERS
'HIZ001' => 'Niihau',
'HIZ002' => 'Kauai Windward',
'HIZ003' => 'Kauai Leeward',
'HIZ004' => 'Kauai Mountains',
'HIZ005' => 'Oahu South Shore',
'HIZ006' => 'Waianae Coast',
'HIZ007' => 'Oahu North Shore',
'HIZ008' => 'Oahu Koolau',
'HIZ009' => 'Olomana',
'HIZ010' => 'Central Oahu',
'HIZ011' => 'Waianae Mountains',
'HIZ012' => 'Molokai Windward',
'HIZ013' => 'Molokai Leeward',
'HIZ014' => 'Lanai Makai',
'HIZ015' => 'Lanai Mauka',
'HIZ016' => 'Kahoolawe',
'HIZ017' => 'Maui Windward West',
'HIZ018' => 'Maui Leeward West',
'HIZ019' => 'Maui Central Valley',
'HIZ020' => 'Windward Haleakala',
'HIZ021' => 'Leeward Haleakala',
'HIZ022' => 'Haleakala Summit',
'HIZ023' => 'Kona',
'HIZ024' => 'South Big Island',
'HIZ025' => 'Big Island North and East',
'HIZ026' => 'Kohala',
'HIZ027' => 'Big Island Interior',
'HIZ028' => 'Big Island Summits'
HAWAIIAN COASTAL WATERS
'PHZ100' => 'Synopsis Hawaiian coastal waters within 40 NM',
'PHZ110' => 'Kauai Northwest Waters',
'PHZ111' => 'Kauai Windward Waters',
'PHZ112' => 'Kauai Leeward Waters',
'PHZ113' => 'Kauai Channel',
'PHZ114' => 'Oahu Windward Waters',
'PHZ115' => 'Oahu Leeward Waters',
'PHZ116' => 'Kaiwi Channel',
'PHZ117' => 'Maui County Windward Waters',
'PHZ118' => 'Maui County Leeward Waters',
'PHZ119' => 'Maalaea Bay',
'PHZ120' => 'Pailolo Channel',
'PHZ121' => 'Alenuihaha Channel',
'PHZ122' => 'Big Island Windward Waters',
'PHZ123' => 'Big Island Leeward Waters',
'PHZ124' => 'Big Island Southeast Waters'
Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska
'PZZ100' => 'Washington Synopsis',
'PZZ150' => 'Coastal Waters Forecast',
'PZZ130' => 'West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca',
'PZZ131' => 'Central U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca',
'PZZ132' => 'East Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca',
'PZZ134' => 'Admiralty Inlet',
'PZZ133' => 'Northern Inland Waters Including The San Juan Islands',
'PZZ135' => 'Puget Sound and Hood Canal',
'PZZ110' => 'Grays Harbor Bar',
'PZZ300' => 'SYNOPSIS S OREGON COASTAL WATERS',
'PZZ370' => 'Waters from Florence to Cape Blanco OR from 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ376' => 'Waters from Cape Blanco OR to Pt. St. George CA from 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ350' => 'Coastal waters from Florence to Cape Blanco OR out 10 nm',
'PZZ356' => 'Coastal waters from Cape Blanco OR to Pt. St. George CA out 10 nm',
'PZZ400' => 'SYNOPSIS S WASHINGTON AND N OREGON COAST',
'PZZ450' => 'Pt St George to Cape Mendocino out 10 nm',
'PZZ470' => 'Pt St George to Cape Mendocino 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ455' => 'Cape Mendocino to Pt Arena out 10 nm',
'PZZ475' => 'Cape Mendocino to Pt Arena 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ400' => 'SYNOPSIS FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WATERS',
'PZZ450' => 'Pt St George to Cape Mendocino out 10 nm',
'PZZ470' => 'Pt St George to Cape Mendocino 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ455' => 'Cape Mendocino to Pt Arena out 10 nm',
'PZZ475' => 'Cape Mendocino to Pt Arena 10 to 60 nm',
'PZZ500' => 'Synopsis Central California Coast and Bays',
'PZZ570' => 'Point Arena to Point Reyes 10-60 NM',
'PZZ571' => 'Point Reyes to Pigeon Point 10-60 NM',
'PZZ575' => 'Pigeon Point to Point Pinos 10-60 NM',
'PZZ576' => 'Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas 10-60 NM',
'PZZ540' => 'Point Arena to Point Reyes California to 10 NM',
'PZZ545' => 'Point Reyes to Pigeon Point California to 10 NM',
'PZZ560' => 'Pigeon Point to Point Pinos California to 10 NM',
'PZZ565' => 'Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas',
'PZZ530' => 'San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the West Delta and the San Francisco',
'PZZ531' => 'San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge',
'PZZ535' => 'Monterey Bay',
'PZZ600' => 'Synopsis S. California, Santa Barbara, Channel Islands',
'PZZ645' => 'Point Piedras Blancas to Point Sal westward out to 10 NM',
'PZZ670' => 'Point Piedras Blancas to Point Sal from 10 to 60 NM',
'PZZ673' => 'Pt. Sal to Santa Cruz Island CA and westward 60 nm',
'PZZ676' => 'Outer waters Santa Cruz Island to San Clemente Island to 60 NM',
'PZZ650' => 'East Santa Barbara Channel from Pt. Conception to Pt. Mugu CA',
'PZZ655' => 'Inner waters from Point Mugu to San Mateo Pt., Catalina and Anacapa ',
'PZZ700' => 'Southern California coast',
'PZZ750' => 'San Mateo Point to the Mexican Border to 30NM',
'PZZ775' => 'San Mateo point to the Mexican Border 30 to 60NM',
FLORIDA 1
'GMZ800' => 'SYNOPSIS FOR THE COASTAL WATERS FROM BONITA BEACH TO SUWANNEE RIVER',
'GMZ830' => 'Tampa Bay waters',
'GMZ836' => 'Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sound',
'GMZ856' => 'Coastal waters from Bonita Beach to Englewood FL out 20 NM',
'GMZ876' => 'Waters from Bonita Beach to Englewood FL out 20 to 60 NM',
'GMZ853' => 'Coastal waters from Englewood to Tarpon Springs FL out 20 NM',
'GMZ873' => 'Waters from Englewood to Tarpon Springs FL out 20 to 60 NM',
'GMZ850' => 'Coastal waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 NM',
'GMZ870' => 'Waters from Tarpon Springs to Suwannee River FL out 20 to 60 NM'
FLORIDA 2
'AMZ600' => 'Synopsis for Jupiter Inlet to Ocean Reef FL out to 60 nm and for East',
'GMZ606' => 'Synopsis for Jupiter Inlet to Ocean Reef FL out to 60 nm and for East',
'AMZ650' => 'Coastal waters from Jupiter Inlet to Deerfield Beach FL out',
'AMZ651' => 'Coastal waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef FL out 20 NM',
'AMZ630' => 'Biscayne Bay',
'GMZ656' => 'Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM',
'GMZ676' => 'Waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM',
'AMZ610' => 'Lake Okeechobee'
ALASKA
'PKZ053' => 'Yakutat Bay',
'PKZ098' => 'SE Alaska Inside Waters from Dixon Entrance to Skagway',
'PKZ011' => 'Glacier Bay',
'PKZ012' => 'Northern Lynn Canal',
'PKZ013' => 'Southern Lynn Canal',
'PKZ021' => 'Icy Strait',
'PKZ022' => 'Cross Sound',
'PKZ031' => 'Stephens Passage',
'PKZ032' => 'Northern Chatham Strait',
'PKZ033' => 'Southern Chatham Strait',
'PKZ034' => 'Frederick Sound',
'PKZ035' => 'Sumner Strait',
'PKZ036' => 'Clarence Strait',
'PKZ099' => 'SE Alaska from Dixon Entrance to Cape Suckling out 100 NM',
'PKZ041' => 'Dixon Entrance to Cape Decision',
'PKZ042' => 'Cape Decision to Cape Edgecumbe',
'PKZ043' => 'Cape Edgecumbe to Cape Fairweather',
'PKZ051' => 'Cape Fairweather to Icy Cape',
'PKZ052' => 'Icy Cape to Cape Suckling',
'PKZ197' => 'SYNOPSIS NORTH GULF COAST ALASKA, KODIAK ISLAND, COOK INLET',
'PKZ119' => 'Cape Suckling to Cape Cleare-',
'PKZ120' => 'Cape Cleare to Gore Point-',
'PKZ121' => 'Resurrection Bay-',
'PKZ125' => 'Prince William Sound-',
'PKZ126' => 'Port Valdez-',
'PKZ127' => 'Valdez Narrows-',
'PKZ128' => 'Valdez Arm-',
'PKZ129' => 'Passage Canal-',
'PKZ130' => 'West of Barren Islands including Kamishak Bay-',
'PKZ131' => 'Barren Islands East-',
'PKZ132' => 'Marmot Island to Sitkinak-',
'PKZ136' => 'Chiniak Bay-',
'PKZ137' => 'Marmot Bay-',
'PKZ138' => 'Shelikof Strait-',
'PKZ139' => 'Cook Inlet Kalgin Island to Point Bede-',
'PKZ140' => 'Cook Inlet North of Kalgin Island-',
'PKZ141' => 'Kachemak Bay-',
'PKZ199' => 'SYNOPSIS SW ALASKA, BRISTOL BAY, PENINSULA, ALEUTIANS',
'PKZ150' => 'South of the AK Peninsula Sitkinak to Castle Cape',
'PKZ155' => 'South of the AK Peninsula Castle Cape to Cape Sarichef',
'PKZ160' => 'Bristol Bay',
'PKZ165' => 'Port Heiden to Cape Sarichef',
'PKZ170' => 'Cape Sarichef to Nikolski Bering Side',
'PKZ171' => 'Unalaska Bay',
'PKZ172' => 'Cape Sarichef to Nikolski Pacific Side',
'PKZ173' => 'Nikolski to Seguam Island Bering Side',
'PKZ174' => 'Nikolski to Seguam Island Pacific Side',
'PKZ175' => 'Seguam Island to Adak Bering Side',
'PKZ176' => 'Seguam Island to Adak Pacific Side',
'PKZ177' => 'Adak to Kiska',
'PKZ178' => 'Kiska to Attu',
'PKZ179' => 'Pribilof Islands Near Shore Waters',
'PKZ180' => 'Kuskokwim Delta and Etolin Strait',
'PKZ181' => 'North and West of Nunivak Island',
'PKZ185' => 'Saint Matthew Island Waters',
'PKZ299' => 'Synopsis Northwestern Alaska Coastal Waters out 100 NM',
'PKZ200' => 'Norton Sound',
'PKZ210' => 'Dall Point to Wales',
'PKZ215' => 'Kotzebue Sound',
'PKZ220' => 'Wales to Cape Thompson',
'PKZ298' => 'SYNOPSIS FOR ALASKA ARCTIC COAST',
'PKZ225' => 'Cape Thompson to Cape Beaufort',
'PKZ230' => 'Cape Beaufort to Point Franklin',
'PKZ235' => 'Point Franklin to Cape Halkett',
'PKZ240' => 'Cape Halkett to Flaxman Island',
'PKZ245' => 'Flaxman Island to Demarcation Point'
MEXICO/Central & South America
'PMZ001' => 'SYNOPSIS FOR THE E PACIFIC WITHIN 250 NM OF MEXICO',
'PMZ009' => 'BORDER S TO 29N WITHIN 60 NM OF SHORE',
'PMZ011' => 'S OF 29N TO PUNTA EUGENIA',
'PMZ013' => 'PUNTA EUGENIA TO CABO SAN LAZARO TO 250 NM OFFSHORE',
'PMZ015' => 'CABO SAN LAZARO TO CABO SAN LUCAS TO 250 NM OFFSHORE',
'PMZ017' => 'NORTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA',
'PMZ019' => 'CENTRAL GULF OF CALIFORNIA',
'PMZ021' => 'SOUTHERN GULF OF CALIFORNIA',
'PMZ023' => 'ENTRANCE TO THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA AND CABO CORRIENTES',
'PMZ025' => 'MICHOACAN AND GUERRERO TO 250 NM OFFSHORE',
'PMZ027' => 'OAXACA AND CHIAPAS INCLUDING TEHUANTEPEC',
'PMZ101' => 'Synopsis E Pacific within 250 nm of C.A., Colombia, and 750 nm of Ecuador',
'PMZ111' => 'Guatemala and El Salvador to 250 nm offshore',
'PMZ113' => 'El Salvador to North Costa Rica including the Gulfs of Fonseca and Papagayo',
'PMZ115' => 'North Costa Rica to West Panama to 250 nm offshore',
'PMZ117' => 'East Panama and Colombia including the Gulf of Panama',
'PMZ119' => 'Ecuador including the Gulf of Guayaquil to 250 nm offshore',
'PMZ121' => 'Ecuador between 250 and 500 nm offshore',
'PMZ123' => 'Offshore Galapagos Islands'
RSS2.0 FEED