Model forecasts#

Model forecasts are raw output from weather models, like the forecasts on Windy, packed into short lines. They work anywhere in the world. Text a model name and a place:

Text Model
best The best model for the place, picked by Open-Meteo. In the US that’s HRRR for about the first two days, then GFS; in Europe a national model like ICON or MET Nordic; in Alaska, ECMWF IFS. It can switch models partway through the reply.
ecmwf ECMWF IFS, the European model, about 9 km. Windy’s default.
aifs ECMWF’s AI model. It has no gusts.
gfs GFS, the US model.
icon ICON, the German model.
gem GEM, the Canadian model.
nam NAM, the US regional model, about 3 km. It covers the lower 48 states and nearby parts of Canada and Mexico, but not Alaska or Hawaii.

If a model doesn’t cover the place you asked for, the reply says so.

Add wind for just the wind, or sky for just the sky and temperature, to get a shorter reply.

Phone
ecmwf wind uganikbay
SMSWeather: Here is your forecast for uganikbay: ECMWF IFS kt/F. 'models' for key WED 28 9A SSW2g6 12P E3g5 3P SE5g8 6P SSE7g9 9P SSE4g6 THU 29 12A SSE5g6 3A SE3g5 6A SE3g5 9A S5g6 12P SSE6g10 3P S6g8 6P SE6g8 9P SSE5g12 FRI 30 12A SSE7g10 3A S4g8 6A WSW3g4
Phone
gfs uganikbay
SMSWeather: Here is your forecast for uganikbay: GFS kt/F. 'models' for key WED 28 9A c 42 SSE8 12P c 45 SSE12 3P c 46 SSE13 6P c 45 SSE11 9P r 45 SSE7 THU 29 12A r 44 SE5g7 3A r 45 SSE3g5 6A r 46 SE5g8 9A r 46 SE7 12P r 46 SSE10g12 3P r 46 S10g13 6P r 45 SSE12 9P r 45 SSE13g14 FRI 30 12A r 45 SSE8g15 3A R 45 S10g12 6A R 44 WSW6g13

Reading a reply#

The reply covers the next 48 hours, every 3 hours, in local time, in knots and °F unless you’ve chosen other units. A day line like THU 29 starts each day. Each line after it is one time:

9P kc 34 SSE3g23
Part Meaning
9P 9 pm. 12A is midnight, 12P noon.
kc The sky: k clear, c cloudy, kc partly cloudy, f fog, r rain, s snow, t thunderstorms. R and S are heavy rain and snow.
34 Temperature, °F
SSE3 Wind from the SSE at 3 knots
g23 Gusts to 23 knots, when they’re stronger than the wind

The first line of the reply names the model and the units, like GFS kt/F. Text models to get this key by text.

Near a coast the forecast is for the nearest sea grid point, since most requests are for boats. The temperature is 2 m above the ground at the place you asked for, so at sea level over water and at the height of the land on shore.

Units#

Model forecasts are in knots and °F unless you choose otherwise: text units kmh C, for example, to change them for your number, or add a unit to one request, like gfs uganikbay mph. See Units.

The model data is from Open-Meteo.com, licensed under CC BY 4.0.