Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025

Improved Tornado Safety: The bill establishes a program to improve tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings to reduce the loss of life or property (Section 103).

Enhanced Hurricane Preparedness: A program is maintained to improve hurricane forecasting and communicate risks like inland flooding and storm surges to help people decide whether to evacuate or shelter in place (Section 104).

Improved Tsunami Response: The act reauthorizes the Tsunami Warning and Education Act to include research and update alert levels to ensure they produce the desired response from communities (Section 105).

Increased Radar Capabilities: The bill includes a plan to replace the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) system to improve coverage and accuracy (Section 202).

Support for Vulnerable Areas: There are provisions to ensure equitable weather observation coverage in under-observed or highly vulnerable regions, such as urban areas (Section 203).

Improved Atmospheric River Forecasts: A program is established to provide more accurate warnings for atmospheric rivers to reduce loss of life and property (Section 204).

Coastal Protection: The bill establishes a program to improve forecasts for coastal flooding and storm surges to help communities respond more effectively (Section 205).

Aviation Safety: An airborne observation program is maintained to provide better weather and turbulence information for the protection of lives and property in the airspace system (Section 206).

Improved Weather Forecasting: The bill supports reanalysis and reforecasting to improve weather and climate datasets, which helps in predicting extreme weather (Sec. 209).

Enhanced Workforce Support: The Director of the National Weather Service is tasked with assessing medical impacts, including stress and long-term health, related to rotating shifts to improve employee benefits (Sec. 210(b)).

Improved Flood Risk Management: The designation of service hydrologists is intended to help users respond more effectively to flood events and improve water resource management (Sec. 210(c)(4)).

Access to Commercial Innovation: The Commercial Data Program allows for the acquisition of diverse data from private sector entities, including satellite and ground-based observations (Sec. 302(b)).

Better Public Risk Communication: A new program aims to simplify and improve how hazardous weather risks are communicated to the public to prevent loss of life and property (Sec. 402(b)).

Enhanced Weather Radio Reliability: The bill directs the expansion of NOAA Weather Radio coverage, specifically to assist rural and underserved communities (Sec. 405(a)).

Support for Agricultural and Water Sectors: Pilot projects are established to improve subseasonal to seasonal precipitation forecasts for water management in the western United States and agriculture in the central United States (Sec. 501(a)).

Drought Response: The expansion of the National Integrated Drought Information System aims to enhance timely responses to drought through better monitoring and forecasting (Sec. 502(a)).

Improved Road Safety: The National Mesonet Program is directed to provide real-time road weather and surface conditions to support surface transportation (Sec. 503(b)(6)).

Staffing Limitations: While the bill discusses hiring, the designation of service hydrologists is explicitly prohibited from increasing the authorized number of full-time equivalent employees at the National Weather Service (Sec. 210(c)(2)).

Outsourcing Concerns: The assessment for hiring at the National Weather Service includes recommendations that could lead to outsourcing hiring to entities other than the National Weather Service (Sec. 210(a)(1)).