Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes, revises, and establishes several programs related to weather forecasting, monitoring, and research.

Highlights:

• Authorizes, revises, and establishes several programs related to weather forecasting, monitoring, and research (Title II-V).

• Authorizes through Fiscal Year 2028 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, and also provides statutory authority for NOAA's Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (known as VORTEX-USA) (Title II-V).

• Requires the NOAA to establish programs that support weather forecasting technology, including improvements to radar accuracy, weather forecasting in underserved areas, and coastal flooding forecasting (Title II-V).

• Specifies that the NOAA must also contract with the private sector to obtain weather-related data and establish a pilot program to test the compatibility of this data with NOAA infrastructure (Title II-V).

• Requires the 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) (Title II-V).

• Requires the NOAA to 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 (Title II-V).

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text