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

V Improving Weather Information for Agriculture and Water Management

Sec. 507. Precipitation forecast improvement program

(a) In general. Title VI of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 8501 et seq.) is amended—

(1) by redesignating section 603 as section 604; and

(2) by inserting after section 602 the following new section:

Text this section adds to the law

603. Precipitation forecast improvement program

(a) In general. The Under Secretary, in collaboration with the United States weather industry, other Federal agencies, and academic partners, shall maintain a program to improve precipitation forecasting across timescales.

(b) Goal. The goal of the program under subsection (a) shall be to provide more accurate, reliable, and timely precipitation forecasts across timescales through the development and application of a fully coupled Earth system prediction model in order to reduce the loss of life or property related to precipitation extremes, with a focus on the following:

(1) Improving the understanding and prediction of precipitation extremes from a variety of weather systems, including atmospheric rivers.

(2) Evaluating and incorporating, as appropriate, innovative observations into operational monitoring and forecast systems to improve precipitation forecasts.

(3) Improving earth system model predictions of precipitation extremes from atmospheric rivers, tropical cyclones, summer-time thunderstorms, winter storms, and other phenomena, in coordination with relevant programs.

(4) Enhancing research transition to operations through testbeds, including the evaluation of physical and social science, technology, and other research to develop products and services for implementation and use by relevant stakeholders.

(5) Incorporating social, behavioral, and economic sciences best practices into operations for more effective and actionable watch and warning products that help drive public safety and damage mitigation decisions in coordination with the programs established in accordance with this Act.

(6) Ensuring data and metadata management processes are in place to support data access and archive for long term research and operations among multiple partners.

(c) Activities. In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall support research-to-operations work, including relating to the following:

(1) Implementing key strategies and following priorities and objectives outlined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Precipitation Prediction Grand Challenge Strategy.

(2) Improving the physical science, operational modeling and tools, and technology related to better forecasting precipitation extremes across timescales.

(3) Improving the social, behavioral, risk, communications, and economic sciences related to vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery of information critical for reducing the loss of life or property related to extreme precipitation.

(4) Conducting the research necessary to develop and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance technology relating to precipitation extremes in operational practice.

(5) Enhancing the operational capacity of the National Weather Service to deliver decision support for increasing precipitation extremes.

(6) Expanding computational resources to improve precipitation modeling.

(d) Annual budget. The Under Secretary shall, not less frequently than annually, submit to Congress a proposed budget corresponding with carrying out this section.

(b) Clerical amendment. The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 is amended by striking the item relating to section 603 and inserting the following new items:

Text this section adds to the law

Sec. 603. Precipitation forecast improvement program. Sec. 604. Definitions.