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S 322 119th Congress Senate Science, Technology, Communications

Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act

Introduced: January 29, 2025 Introduced by: Padilla, Alex Democratic · California See on congress.gov
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 29, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S484-485)
Jan 29, 2025
Introduced in Senate
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 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act

This bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish an atmospheric river forecast improvement program.

In carrying out the program, NOAA must seek to reduce loss of life and property and other economic losses caused by atmospheric river events through research and development on accurate, effective, and actionable forecasting and warnings. The program must generally involve the establishment of quantitative atmospheric river forecast skill metrics, the development of an atmospheric river forecast system within a unified forecast system, and the development of tools and products to predict periods of active or inactive atmospheric river landfalls and inland penetration, among other activities. 

The program must periodically test and evaluate the value of incorporating innovative observations (e.g., observations from radar, aircraft, ocean buoys, and other sources) to facilitate the improvement of modeling and forecasting. The program must also consider the development of best practices for communicating the existence and severity of atmospheric river events, as well as other information about atmospheric rivers. The program may seek to improve precipitation modeling, with an emphasis on forecasting for complex terrain. 

The bill also requires NOAA to acquire and sustain adequate crewed and uncrewed aircraft (i.e., drones), equipment, and personnel necessary to meet air reconnaissance mission requirements annually during the expected atmospheric river season (November through March). 

What's happening now January 29, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S484-485)

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 27

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

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 Cosponsors 1
All 1 Republican 1
R
Murkowski, Lisa
Alaska · Jan 29, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 322: Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-322/
MLA
"S. 322: Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-322/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 322, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-322/.
Markdown link
[S. 322: Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-322/)
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