These come from the National Weather Service. SMSWeather shortens the wording to save texts, for example SE10-15mph for “southeast wind 10 to 15 mph” and NT for night.
The NWS forecast for a place, about a week ahead in 12-hour periods, the same as the forecast on weather.gov for that point. Give any kind of place in the US or its coastal waters. Elsewhere the reply says NOAA has no forecast there; try a model forecast like best instead. This is also the reply when a text has a place but no forecast type, so uganikbay alone works. The first line says where the forecast is, relative to the nearest town.
On land the forecast has temperatures and wind in mph:
Phone
noaapoint 58.37 -156.01
SMSWeather: Here is your forecast for 58.37 -156.01:
24mi SE King Salmon AK
Today: Rain. Mstly cloudy, high 44. SE10-15mph, gusts to 25mph. Chance precipitation 90%.
Tonight: Rain. Mstly cloudy, low 41. SE0-15mph, gusts to 25mph. Chance precipitation 90%.
THU: Rain. Mstly cloudy, high 48. SE5-20mph. Chance precipitation 90%.
THU NT: Rain. Mstly cloudy, low 38. SE15-20mph, gusts to 30mph. Chance precipitation 100%.
FRI: chance rain before 10am, then chance rain showers. Ptly sun, high 43. S15-20mph, gusts to 30mph. Chance precipitation 40%.
FRI NT: Rain showers likely before 4am, then chance rain. Mstly cloudy, low 33. SE15-25mph, gusts to 35mph. Chance precipitation 70%.
SAT: chance rain. Mstly cloudy, high 42.
SAT NT: slight chance rain before 10pm. Mstly cloudy, low 31.
SUN: Mstly cloudy, high 39.
SUN NT: chance rain and snow after 3am. Mstly cloudy, low 30. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
MON: chance rain and snow. Ptly sun, high 42. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
MON NT: chance rain. Mstly cloudy, low 34.
TUE: chance rain. Mstly cloudy, high 42.
TUE NT: chance rain before 3am, then chance rain and snow. Mstly cloudy, low 33.
Over water, like the middle of a bay, NWS gives a marine point forecast instead: wind in knots, seas, and any advisory, like “Small Craft Advisory”, before the forecast. See the example on the home page.
The NWS coastal waters forecast for a marine zone, like pkz738 for Shelikof Strait. Only coastal zones work. Find zone numbers on the NWS Anchorage marine page.
Garmin inReach
marinezone pkz738
g:1/3
SMSWeather: PKZ738-290015-
Shelikof Strait-
349 AM AKDT Wed Oct 28 2026
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TODAY AND THURSDAY.TODAY: E25kt. Seas 4ft.
g:2/3
TONIGHT: E20kt. Seas 4ft. Rain.
THU: SE25kt. Seas 5ft. Rain.
THU NIGHT: S30kt. Seas 6ft.
FRI: S25kt. Seas 5ft.
SAT: E15kt. Seas 3ft.
g:3/3
SUN: NE15kt. Seas 3ft.
Alaska’s zone numbers changed in 2023: Shelikof Strait was pkz138 and is now pkz738. An old zone number can still return its last forecast, from 2023, so check the date at the top of the reply.
The latest terminal aerodrome forecast (taf) or observation (metar) for an airport, by its 4-letter code in capitals, like PADQ for Kodiak or PANC for Anchorage. They come as issued, with the time they were posted (UTC) first.