Cantwell-Led Bipartisan Legislation to Modernize Weather Forecasting & Research Unanimously Passes Senate

11.11.26 Cantwell-Led Bipartisan Legislation to Modernize Weather Forecasting & Research Unanimously Passes Senate Act would improve wildfire forecasts and deploy new tools to fight fires, establish an atmospheric river forecast improvement program, strengthen landslide preparedness, and deploy new tech and tools to forecast droughts and heat waves that harm crops; Extreme weather is driving local impacts: August’s wind-fueled fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed hundreds of Spokane homes, December’s atmospheric rivers dumped 5 trillion gallons of rain on WA, and 73 landslides were recor WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate passed the bipartisan Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 (the Weather Act) which authorizes programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that will strengthen weather research and forecasting to save lives and better prepare our nation against dangerous weather disasters. The legislation is led by U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. “Americans are facing increasingly dangerous and costly weather disasters, and better forecasts give communities more time to prepare and get out of harm’s way,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The Weather Act will advance next-generation weather radar, modernize lifesaving warning systems, and improve forecasts for atmospheric rivers and wildfires, like the devastating fires that forced thousands to evacuate in Spokane last month. Senate passage brings us one step closer to giving forecasters, emergency managers, and communities the tools they need to save lives and protect property.” Improves Fire Weather Forecasting: The bill would establish an official Fire Weather Services Program within NOAA and fund the research and acquisition of new technology to improve forecasts of wildfire conditions. It would also create a Fire Weather Testbed to deploy new tools to fight fires, including a pilot program for unmanned aircraft to gather data such as chemical information and survey damage. It would ensure that meteorologists in the field receive fair compensation for longer-term deployments. Wildfires burn thousands of acres in the state of Washington every year. More than 900,000 acres have burned during the 2026 fire season. Wind-fueled fires destroyed more than 800 homes in Spokane, forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, and is estimated to cost over $1 billion to rebuild. The bill would also establish a NOAA program to coordinate agencies’ activities and ensure a united Federal approach to reducing risks to human health from heat and improve the delivery of data, forecasts, and warnings, related to extreme heat to help protect communities. READ MORE: The Spokesman-Review: Spokane fire damages will exceed $1 billion Improves Atmospheric River Forecasting: The Weather Act would establish an atmospheric river forecast improvement program to advance accurate, effective, and actionable forecasts and warnings for atmospheric rivers. It also enables NOAA to improve atmospheric river hazard communication. The bill would require NOAA to maintain and improve how the National Weather Service and other federal partners like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) support emergency managers and communicate potential hazardous weather or water events to the public. It also directs NOAA to upgrade outdated weather radio technology to provide reliable and continuous weather and emergency alerts, expanding coverage to 98-99% of the United States. Despite the State of Washington having 17 National Weather Radio transmitters, large gaps in coverage remain. December’s atmospheric rivers dumped five trillion gallons of rain across the state and caused devastating floods. In the western United States, atmospheric rivers account for 84% of flood damages costing approximately $1.1 billion a year, and in King County, atmospheric rivers are responsible for 97% of flood damages. READ MORE: The Cascadia Daily News: Flooded Whatcom businesses face ‘long road’ to recovery Improves Landslide Preparedness: The bill would require the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and NOAA to incorporate risks from atmospheric rivers into landslide preparedness and response planning. It would expand the National Landslide Hazards Database to cover areas needing additional landslide risk assessments due to factors such as hydrological changes and atmospheric river flooding. It includes funding for the purchase and deployment of landslide early warning systems in high-risk area. In December 2025 at least 73 landslides were reported after the atmospheric river event and there were likely many more that went undocumented. Some of these blocked critical transportation corridors for days on end. A section of U.S. 2 near Leavenworth was closed for weeks due to flood damage. North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin was forced to close for the summer of 2026 due to the flood damage. This week, following soaking rains and with the National Weather Service forecasting more heavy rain starting Friday , emergency management officials have warned Washingtonians about increased landslide risks. READ MORE: National Park Service: Services limited at Stehekin Landing following winter flood damage Improves Drought Monitoring: The bill directs the National Integrated Drought Information System to advance and deploy next generation drought monitoring technologies and use observations from state or regional hydrological monitoring projects. The bill reauthorizes the National Weather Service’s work to provide agricultural and silvicultural weather and climate information and directs NOAA to establish at least two pilot projects to support improved extended range precipitation forecasts for agriculture and water management. READ MORE: Yakima Herald-Republic: Washington state facing third-worst snowpack year on record, researchers say Large portions of the State of Washington remain in moderate to severe drought, primarily due to snowpack deficits. Low precipitation and snowpack threaten irrigation water supplies, agriculture, and summer stream flows, which depend heavily on gradual snowmelt. “We are tremendously appreciative of Sen. Cantwell’s continued leadership in protecting our natural resources, including our ocean,” said Jan Newton, Director of the Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS) and affiliate professor with the University of Washington Collee of the Environment. “NANOOS is grateful that our policymakers understand the importance of the ocean to our weather, which is created and driven by many inter-related systems. We are excited that the Integrated Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS) network, of which NANOOS is a key component, is reauthorized as a part of the larger Weather Act reauthorization legislation. We thank the bipartisan group of Senators engaged in this effort.” "Accurate weather forecasts are among the most direct ways science serves the public, and the stakes have never been higher as extreme weather grows more frequent and costly. The Weather Act Reauthorization Act would move research breakthroughs into operational forecasts faster, strengthening the nation's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from severe weather. AGU applauds Congress's bipartisan commitment to science-informed decision-making that safeguards communities across the country.” – Janice Lachance, Executive Director/CEO, American Geophysical Union “Weather impacts everyone, every day, and the ability to provide timely, accurate weather information depends on a strong weather enterprise. The bipartisan Weather Act recognizes the importance of investing in the observations, science, technology, and forecasting capabilities that help us save lives, protect property, and support our economy. Strengthening those capabilities is an investment in the nation’s future." – Alan Sealls, President, American Meteorological Society “Passage of the Weather Act Reauthorization is a giant step forward for the Weather Enterprise and its delivery of forecasts that save lives, protect communities, support businesses, and bolster our national economy. This bill strengthens public-private partnerships by augmenting critical government systems with increased use of innovative commercial data, paving the way for needed advances in observations, modeling, and information delivery. The American people will benefit every day from this legislation – from improved aviation and agricultural operations to earlier warnings for extreme weather such as tornadoes and flash flooding.” – Douglas Hilderbrand, Executive Director, American Weather Enterprise Association Complete Highlights of the Legislation Include: Enhancing Federal Weather Forecasting and Innovation Addresses NOAA’s aging radar network by directing the agency to design and deploy the next generation of weather radar technology by 2037. It also authorizes NOAA to manage existing gaps in the current radar network by supplementing weather radar coverage with data, services, and technologies from third parties. Establishes an atmospheric river forecast improvement program to develop tools and improved forecast models to address the increasingly frequent and powerful atmospheric rivers impacting the US, especially across the West coast. Directs the National Weather Service to include turbulence events and icing conditions in their forecasting capabilities and establishes an airborne observation program to acquire atmospheric data from commercial aircraft. Directs NOAA to improve accuracy and timeliness of weather, water, and space weather forecasts and effective dissemination of critical information using artificial intelligence. Creates a project to improve forecasts of coastal marine fog with the goal of enhancing vessel safety and reducing the economic impact of coastal marine fog events. Strengthening Emergency Preparedness by Improving Communication Requires NOAA to maintain and improve the system that communicates potential hazardous weather or water events to the public. Requires upgrades to outdated weather radio technology to provide reliable and continuous weather and emergency alerts and expands radio coverage to rural areas that do not currently have access to the National Weather Radio alert system. Modernizing Critical Research Programs Updates the Tsunami Forecasting and Warning Program to evaluate tsunami alert levels, maintain fail-safe warning capabilities, and align the analytic techniques and methodologies of the two existing tsunami warning centers in Hawaii and Alaska. Builds on the progress of the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project by establishing it as a long-term program that will incorporate social, behavioral, risk, and communication science into modeling, forecasting, and response guidance. Expands the goals of the Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of tornado forecasts, predictions, and warnings by increasing lead times, improving forecasting, and updating the system to rate the severity of tornadoes in collaboration with local communities and emergency managers. Provides funding for weather laboratories; tornado, severe storm, and next generation radar research; and transitioning the latest scientific and technological advances into operations. Supporting Farmers and Ranchers with Better Tools for Agriculture and Water Management Directs the National Integrated Drought Information System to advance and deploy next-generation drought monitoring technologies and transition existing drought products to probabilistic forecasts, as well as use observations from state or regional hydrological monitoring projects. Reauthorizes the National Weather Service’s work to provide agricultural and silvicultural weather and climate information and directs NOAA to establish at least two pilot projects to support improved sub-seasonal to seasonal extended range precipitation forecasts for agriculture and water management. Codifies and authorizes the National Mesonet Program, a network of automated weather stations that are used to monitor and observe weather events and microclimates. The program is directed to obtain observations to improve understanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric, drought, fire, and water events and increase the quantity and density of environmental observations. Expanding Commercial Data Partnerships Increases NOAA’s access to critical forecasting data by expanding its authority to contract with the private sector to acquire commercial weather data. Codifies the Commercial Data Program to coordinate and acquire a variety of weather and environmental data and services from the private sector for operational use. Modifies the existing commercial data pilot program to be a testing program within the Commercial Data Program, and authorizes the program to test and evaluate all sources and types of observation services, imagery, products, and data from private sector entities. Preparing for Disasters Establishes within NOAA an interagency committee to coordinate agencies’ activities and ensure a united federal approach to reducing health risks from heat, as well as a NOAA system to improve the delivery of data, information, forecasts, warnings, prediction, and projections related to temperature and extreme heat. Improves the monitoring, forecasting, prevention, and mitigation of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia that threaten aquatic ecosystems, hurt local economies, and endanger public health by reauthorizing and amending the National Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Program. Establishes a national harmful algal bloom observing network and a national incubator program and increases the avenues of assistance NOAA can provide to affected communities. Requires the national landslide strategy to include an assessment of risks from atmospheric river flooding and extreme precipitation events and expands the National Landslide Hazards Database to cover areas needing further risk assessment due to factors such as hydrological changes and atmospheric river flooding Read the bill text HERE . Sen. Cantwell continues to insist on deploying the best technology to help our weather forecasters. Last year, Senator Cantwell called out the Administration’s decision to cancel its plan to launch a large-scale test of a new advanced weather radar technology, called Phased Array Radar. Senate passage of the bill is another important next step to Sen. Cantwell’s 5 Point Plan to bolster the United States’ weather readiness, which she outlined in a letter to President Donald Trump in July of last year. ### Print Email Tweet Previous Article