Marine Forecasts and Related Information Available via E-mail National Weather Service (and other) marine forecasts are available via a variety of Government, University, Commercial and Public/Freeware systems intended to make information accessible to users such as mariners who may have an e-mail capability but do not have direct Internet access. The following is a listing of several known automated systems. Note: Any reference to any product or service does not imply any endorsement by the National Weather Service as to function or suitability for your purpose or environment. This document (http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/robots.txt) may be retrieved via e-mail as follows: Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: open cd fax get robots.txt quit FTPMAIL **** IMPORTANT NOTICES **** Effective January 08, 2008, the address of the FTPMAIL service changed from ftpmail@weather.noaa.gov to ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov. If you restrict incoming e-mail as a means of preventing spam, you must configure your e-mail system to allow mail from ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Read the help file carefully - 99% of errors using FTPMAIL are simple typo's, incorrect capitalization, failure to send in plain text format, leading or trailing spaces, or failure to set up any spam filters properly. These instructions are subject to revision....download frequently. National Weather Service marine text forecasts and radiofax charts are available via e-mail via an FTPMAIL server. Further, FTPMAIL may be used to acquire any file on the tgftp.nws.noaa.gov FTP server. The FTPMAIL server is intended to allow Internet access for mariners and other users who do not have direct access to the World Wide Web but who are equipped with an e-mail system. Turnaround is generally less than one hour, however, performance may vary widely and receipt cannot be guaranteed. To get started in using the NWS FTPMAIL service, follow these simple directions to obtain the FTPMAIL "help" file (11 KBytes), or see http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/ftpmail.txt Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: help Not all NWS forecast products are available via FTP and therefore accessible via FTPMAIL such as worldwide computer generated model forecasts which include areas beyond the area of U.S. forecasting responsibility such as the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic. To retrieve Wave Watch III (http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/main_table.html) and other forecasts via e-mail, use one of the www-to-email systems such as SAILDOCS or OTHERS described below. Be aware computer generated products from forecast models are not reviewed by forecasters and are therefore subject to error. E.G. per the Wave Watch III webpage: URLs = http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/latest_run/xxxx.yyyyzzzz e.g. http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/latest_run/nww3_na.f024h.3.gif where xxxx = "nww3_at" Atlantic "nww3_na" North Atlantic "wna" Western North Atlantic "wna_ecg" WNA US coastal zoom "nah" North Atlantic Hurricane "nah_ecg" NAH US coastal zoom "nww3_in" Indian Ocean "nww3_pa" Pacific "nww3_np" North Pacific "enp" Eastern North Pacific "enp_haw" ENP Hawaii zoom "enp_wc" ENP west coast zoom "nph" North Pacific Hurricane "nph_haw" NPH Hawaii zoom "nph_wc" NPH west coast zoom "akw" Alaskan Waters where "yyyy" = "h006" or "h000" for -6 or zero hour hindcasts where "yyyy" = "f006" to "f180" (multiples of 6 hours) for forecasts where "zzzz" = "h.gif" Wave Height Forecast "h.2.gif" Wave Period and Direction Forecast "h.3.gif" Wind Speed and Direction Forecast e.g. 24hr Wind Speed and Direction Forecast for North Atlantic = http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/latest_run/nww3_na.f024h.3.gif (See SAILDOCS or OTHERS described below to retrieve via e-mail, file size ~ = 30k Bytes ) And similarly, to retrive sea surface temperature and surface current forecasts from NOAA's for Real-Time Ocean Forecast System (Atlantic): URLs = http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/ofs/aofs_images/large/aofs_zzz_yyyy_xxxx.png e.g. http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/ofs/aofs_images/large/aofs_cur_f120_wnatlzoom.png where xxxx = "natl" North Atlantic "wnatl" Western North Atlantic "wnatlzoom" Western North Atlantic zoom "hurr" Gulf of Mexico where yyyy = "nowcast", "f024", "f048", "f072", "f096" or "f120" where "zzz" = "sst" Sea Surface Temperature (°C) "cur" Surface Current (magnitude m/sec) National Hurricane Center Listserver The National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center operates an e-mail listserver which is special interest to mariners who do not have direct access to the World Wide Web but who are equipped with an e-mail system. This listserver provides an automated means to receive NWS hurricane forecast products via e-mail. However, performance may vary and receipt cannot be guaranteed. This is an experimental service. Interruptions or duplications in e-mail deliveries while we test the system are to be expected. To get started in using the National Hurricane Center Listserver, follow these simple directions for more information, or see: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/signup.shtml Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: open cd fax get nhclist.txt quit University of Illinois Listserver The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign operates an e-mail listserver of which two Lists, WX-ATLAN, and WX-TROPL are of special interest to mariners who do not have direct access to the World Wide Web but who are equipped with an e-mail system. These Lists provide an automated means to receive NWS hurricane (and some marine) forecast products via e-mail. However, performance may vary and receipt cannot be guaranteed. To get started in using the University of Illinois Listserver, follow these simple directions to obtain further information, or see: http://www.lsoft.se/scripts/wl.exe?XH=LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: open cd fax get uiuclist.txt quit Hurricane Watch Net YahooGroup Listserver The Amateur Radio "HAM" Hurricane Watch Net manages two YahooGroup Lists, HWN, and hwn_epac , which are of special interest to mariners who do not have direct access to the World Wide Web but who are equipped with an e-mail system. These Lists provide an automated means to receive NWS hurricane forecast products via e-mail. However, performance may vary and receipt cannot be guaranteed. Due to a system limitation, duplicate e-mails are likely. To get started in using the HWN/hwn_epac YahooGroup Listserver, follow these simple directions to obtain further information, or see: http://www.hwn.org/, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HWN and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hwn_epac Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: open cd fax get hwnlist.txt quit SAILDOCS SAILDOCS is an email-based document-retrieval system which currently offers two services: a document retrieval service which will return documents from the Internet or SAILDOCS own files, and a subscription service which will send Internet documents (for example weather reports) at scheduled intervals. SAILDOCS files include National Weather Service text forecasts and gridded binary (GRIB files) for wind, pressure, 500mb, and sea surface temperature. SAILDOCS is supported in part by Sailmail (www.sailmail.com) but is an independent service that can be used by anyone who agrees to the terms and conditions. To get started in using SAILDOCS, follow these simple directions to obtain further information, or see: http://www.saildocs.com/ Send an e-mail to: info@saildocs.com Subject line: Put anything you like Body: Put anything you like NAVIMAIL Météo-France's NAVIMAIL system enables you to receive gridded binary (GRIB files) for wind, pressure, waves, sea surface temperature, as well as text bulletins and satellite images. There is a service charge for GRIB data, however, text bulletins and satellite images are available at no charge. To get started in using NAVIMAIL, follow these simple directions to obtain further information, or see: http://www.meteo.fr/marine/navimail Send an e-mail to: ftpmail@ftpmail.nws.noaa.gov Subject line: Put anything you like Body: open cd fax get navimail.txt quit U.S. NOTICES TO MARINERS BY E-MAIL The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) provides a service whereby the U.S Notices to Mariners are e-mailed to the requesting address every weekend, with the following limitations: * The notice transmitted is listed on the Maritime Safety Information (MSI) Website in the "Notice to Mariners" section as "Entire NtM". Graphics provided in this version are inadequate for navigation purposes. Navigation-quality chartlets are available for download on the MSI website as needed. * Many networks and e-mail applications have restrictions on file sizes for e-mail attachments. In order to ensure all notices are received, the limit on file sizes for the receiving account should be changed to 2.5 Mb. Contact your system administrator or help desk for more assistance. * In order to subscribe, the customer must be logged into the e-mail account to which they wish the notice sent. When the hyperlink below is selected, an e-mail window is generated with the "To" and "From" addresses filled out. The "Subject" and "Body" will be blank. Selecting "Send" subscribes the user to the e-mailed Notice to Mariners. * Instructions to unsubscribe from the notice are included in each Notice to Mariners e-mail. Privacy Act Advisory Your e-mail address will be used for the purpose of electronically mailing the U.S. Notice to Mariners to you. Upon receipt of your subscription, your identification as the sender will be stripped from your e-mail and only the destination e-mail address you provide will be automatically added to the subscription list. Subscriptions will be processed automatically. If you unsubscribe, your e-mail address will be purged from the file and will not be retained. NGA may collect statistical data about the number of subscribers, number of subscription cancellations, and the number of delivery failures. To subscribe to U.S. Notices to Mariners by E-mail: Send an e-mail to: join-ntm@goldweb.nga.mil Subject line: Leave blank Body: Leave blank U.S. COAST GUARD LOCAL NOTICES TO MARINERS (LNM) LISTSERVER LNM's and other maritime related information are available via a one-way listserver at: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/lnm/listserver.htm NANUS & GPS STATUS MSGS BY EMAIL Users with an urgent need to be notified of changes to the GPS Constellation may subscribe to the Navigation Center NANU List Server (http://cgls.uscg.mil/mailman/listinfo/nanu) and/or the GPS Status Message List Server (http://cgls.uscg.mil/mailman/listinfo/gps). These services provide emails containing the NANU and/or GPS Status Messages, generally within 60 minutes of notification by the Air Force of a change to the GPS Constellation. This is a free service. PRIVACY INFORMATION: Disclosure of your email address is voluntary. It is solicited for the sole purpose of delivering the requested information to you and will not be released to any other party. OTHERS A non-NWS FAQ webpage describing several FTP-to-EMAIL and WWW-to-EMAIL servers may be found at: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet-services/access-via-email/ If you have access to the World Wide Web be certain to check out the following webpages. See these pages for further links. http://www.nws.noaa.gov NWS Homepage http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/home.htm NWS Marine Page cell.weather.gov Cellphone page mobile.weather.gov Mobile Page Author: Timothy Rulon, Marine and Coastal Weather Services Branch W/OS21 National Weather Service Last Modified Aug 27, 2008 Document URL: http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/fax/robots.txt ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/fax/robots.txt