Senator Markey Applauds Senate Passage of His Forecasting and Climate-Health Provisions in Weather Act Reauthorization Package

Washington (November 12, 2026) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, applauded the Senate’s unanimous passage of the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 , which includes provisions from the Senator’s bipartisan Forecasting Optimization for Robust Earth Climate Analysis and Subseasonal-to-Seasonal Tracking (FORECAST) Act in Sec. 501 and his Coordinated Federal Response to Extreme Heat Act in Sec. 207. These provisions will improve long-term weather forecasting efforts and bolster a federal whole-of-government effort to keep Americans informed and prepared during extreme temperature events that will help prevent loss of life, injury, and damage to critical infrastructure. “Extreme weather events are on the rise and pose an imminent threat to the safety of communities, and climate change poses a growing threat to the ability of farmers and other industries to plan and adapt to changing conditions. More reliable and accessible weather information supports our farmers, mariners, and emergency planners as we work to keep each other safe from devastating climate disasters,” said Senator Markey. “I applaud the Senate’s unanimous passage of legislation to improve this information, including my legislation to bring more reliable long-term weather predictions and more accessible extreme heat information to Americans as they weather increasing threats to their safety in everyday life.” Senator Markey’s bipartisan FORECAST Act was reintroduced with Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in April 2025 and would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to improve the reliability of longer-term forecasts—commonly referred to as subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) forecasting—by modernizing data modeling and prediction systems used in forecasting. Senator Markey’s Coordinated Federal Response to Extreme Heat Act codifies NOAA’s National Integrated Heat Health Information System, an interagency effort to increase the accessibility of information about extreme heat and associated health risks and improve research on the dangers of extreme heat on our health and well-being. The program makes available a public online dashboard that provides warnings about extreme heat events and educational materials on heat health and will also establish an interagency committee to coordinate federal activities to reduce health risks from heat and deadly extreme temperatures. ###