H.R. 5089

Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025

Sponsor: Frank D. Lucas

26 cosponsors
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Official summary

Written by the Congressional Research Service.

Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2025 or the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025

This bill reauthorizes, revises, and establishes several programs related to weather forecasting, monitoring, and research. 

For example, the bill reauthorizes through FY2030 programs that are administered by the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including the U.S. Weather Research Program. It also provides statutory authority for NOAA's Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (known as VORTEX-USA).

The bill also requires NOAA to establish programs that support weather forecasting technology, including improvements to radar accuracy, weather forecasting in underserved areas, and coastal flooding forecasting. NOAA must also acquire weather-related data from the private sector and establish a pilot program to test the compatibility of this data with NOAA infrastructure. 

In addition, NOAA must improve weather-related communication systems, including those related to hazardous weather events, through system upgrades that use more modern technology (e.g., cloud-based services) and that allow for expanded coverage (e.g., in rural areas).

Finally, NOAA must administer programs that support weather forecasting for agricultural and water management, including pilot programs to improve precipitation forecasts in the western and central states and a soil moisture monitoring network. 

Text of the bill

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I Reauthorization of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017

II Enhancing Federal Weather Forecasting and Innovation

III Commercial Weather and Environmental Observations

IV Communicating Weather to the Public

Sec. 401. Definitions

In this title:

(1) Hazardous weather or water events. The term hazardous weather or water events has the meaning given such term in section 406 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 109), as amended by section 402 of this Act.

(2) Institution of higher education. The term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

(3) NOAA Weather Radio. The term NOAA Weather Radio means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio All Hazards network.

(4) Public cloud. The term public cloud means an information technology model in which service providers make computing services, including compute and storage and develop-and-deploy environments and applications, available on-demand to organizations and individuals over the public internet or other means that allows for the widest dissemination of information.

(5) Watch; warning. The terms watch and warning have the meanings given such terms in section 406 of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 109), as amended by section 402 of this Act.

V Improving Weather Information for Agriculture and Water Management