The Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 would reauthorize and expand NOAA's weather, hurricane, tornado, tsunami, drought, and water-event research and forecasting programs through fiscal year 2030, authorizing roughly $2.6 billion across all titles. NOAA's core weather-research office would receive about $164 million in FY2026 rising to $170 million in FY2030, with $100 million per year authorized for buying observational data from private weather companies (satellites, drones, aircraft sensors, ocean buoys). The bill establishes new forecast-improvement programs for atmospheric rivers, coastal flooding and storm surge, and precipitation extremes; expands the Tsunami Warning Act to include the Arctic; integrates the global navigation satellite network into earthquake-driven tsunami warnings; and directs NOAA to replace its aging NEXRAD weather radar system by 2040. It creates a Department-of-Energy partnership for high-performance and quantum-computing pilots in weather modeling, establishes a NOAA Data Lake for community weather modeling, and reauthorizes the National Landslide Preparedness Act and the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act with new Tribal and Native Hawaiian inclusion plus a freshwater-bloom innovation incubator. Beyond the science investments, the bill overhauls how NOAA communicates risk to the public: it requires a multi-year program to simplify and standardize watch and warning terminology, pilots tornado- and hurricane-risk communication studies with universities, modernizes NOAA Weather Radio to internet-protocol broadcasts with satellite backup for rural and underserved areas, and orders a Government Accountability Office study of NWS alert-dissemination IT infrastructure. The bill is led by Republican Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma (chair of the House Science Committee) with Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, joined by 18 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Average Household Impact
- NOAA weather-service funding — Multi-year authorization of roughly $2.6 billion across forecasting, observation, mesonet, and water-center programs through FY2030
- NOAA Weather Radio coverage — Modernization required for rural and underserved areas, including satellite backup and IP-based transmission
- NWS warning terminology — New program required to identify, eliminate, or modify confusing watch and warning terms across hazardous-weather communications
Transparency & Accountability
- Congressional reporting cadence — Annual briefings required on Tsunami program, drought info system, Mesonet program, satellite joint ventures, and post-storm surveys
- GAO oversight — New 540-day GAO study required of National Weather Service alert-dissemination IT infrastructure
- Anti-Deficiency Act exception — Harmful algal bloom services classified as 'emergency involving safety of human life,' allowing operations during funding lapses
Congressional Summary
Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2025 or the Weather Act Reauthorization Act of 2025This 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.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-09-02
- Date Added
- 2026-05-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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