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Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.
In a short markup meeting this morning, a Senate committee passed a 17-bill package aimed at strengthening NOAA’s weather research programs and forecasting capabilities.
After years of development, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026 was officially introduced to the Senate last week by a bipartisan group of Senators from Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Texas, and Washington.
The bill was passed without markup and will now go to the Senate floor for a full chamber vote.
Related
• The Weather Act
• Cantwell, Cruz, Colleagues Introduce Weather Act Reauthorization to Modernize Weather Forecasting and Research
• Markup of NASA Reauthorization, NOAA Weather Bill
The Weather Act “is aimed at improving the accuracy and actionability of forecasts and weather warnings, as well as modernizing weather systems,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, in his opening statement. “It addresses hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, landslides, droughts, and atmospheric rivers.”
In her opening statement, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) cited recent examples of costly natural disasters in the United States, including atmospheric rivers in western Washington in December 2025, September 2024 floods in North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, and the January 2025 Los Angeles fires. Other examples include the devastating July 2025 floods in Texas, and the hundreds of tornadoes across the country last year. In 2025 alone, Cantwell noted, weather disasters cost the United States $115 billion.
AGU’s executive director Janice Lachance voiced AGU’s support for the bill in a press release from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
“The Weather Act Reauthorization Act strengthens the nation’s weather enterprise so scientific advances move more quickly from the lab to forecasts, helping emergency managers, farmers, and families make informed decisions when it matters most. AGU strongly supports this bipartisan effort to ensure science continues to protect public safety, support economic stability, and build national resilience,” she said.
If passed, the Weather Act would, among other changes:
- Update or expand the Tsunami Forecasting and Warning Program, the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project, and the Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program
- Establish an atmospheric river forecast improvement program and require the U.S. Geological Survey and NOAA to consider the risks of atmospheric rivers in programs to prepare for and respond to landslides
- Create a project to improve marine fog forecasts
- Establish an official Fire Weather Services Program within NOAA
- Improve drought monitoring capability
- Advance the accuracy of space weather forecasting
At the markup meeting, the committee also approved the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2025, which includes dozens of priorities, such as directing NASA to develop a permanent Moon base, extending the ISS through 2032, and requiring that two commercial space stations be launched before the ISS is retired.
“Both of these pieces of legislation represent, I believe, critical green lights that use science to basically move the United States forward on technology and innovation so the United States can lead in both space and weather,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
—Emily Gardner (@emfurd.bsky.social), Associate Editor
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