II 

119TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 258 

To improve forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other hazardous 

weather, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2025 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. MORAN, 

Mr. SHEEHY, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. WARNOCK) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and 

other hazardous weather, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tornado Observations 

5 Research and Notification Assessment for Development of 

6 Operations Act’’ or the ‘‘TORNADO Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 258 IS

1 (1) HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER

2 EVENTS.—The term ‘‘hazardous weather and water 

3 events’’ means weather and water events that have 

4 a high risk of loss of life or property, including— 

5 (A) severe storms, such as hurricanes and 

6 short-fused, small-scale hazardous weather or 

7 hydrologic events produced by thunderstorms, 

8 including large hail, damaging winds, torna9 does, and flash floods; 

10 (B) winter storms, such as freezing or fro11 zen precipitation (including freezing rain, sleet, 

12 and snow), or combined effects of freezing or 

13 frozen precipitation and strong winds; and 

14 (C) other weather hazards, such as ex15 treme heat or cold, wildfire, drought, dense fog, 

16 high winds, river flooding, and lakeshore flood17 ing. 

18 (2) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI19 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

20 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 

21 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

23 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

24 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 258 IS

1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

7 (5) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na8 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

9 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

10 U.S.C. 15801). 

11 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

12 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

13 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

14 SEC. 3. HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER EVENT RISK 

15 COMMUNICATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall main17 tain and improve the system of the National Oceanic and 

18 Atmospheric Administration by which the risks of haz19 ardous weather and water events are communicated to the 

20 general public, with the goal of informing action and en21 couraging response to prevent loss of life and property. 

22 (b) HAZARD RISK COMMUNICATION IMPROVEMENT

23 AND SIMPLIFICATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

25 maintain a hazard risk communication office (in this 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 258 IS

1 subsection referred to as the ‘‘Office’’), for the pur2 poses of simplifying and improving the communica3 tion of hazardous weather and water event risks. 

4 (2) TERMINOLOGY.—The Office shall identify, 

5 eliminate, or modify unnecessary, redundant, or con6 fusing terms for hazardous weather and water event 

7 communications and add new terminology, as appro8 priate. 

9 (3) COMMUNICATIONS IMPROVEMENT.—The Of10 fice shall improve the form, content, and methods of 

11 hazardous weather and water event communications 

12 to more clearly inform action and increase the likeli13 hood that the public takes such action to prevent the 

14 loss of life or property. 

15 (4) EVALUATIONS.—The Office shall, in coordi16 nation with the performance branch of the National 

17 Weather Service, develop metrics for that branch to 

18 track and evaluate the degree to which hazardous 

19 weather and water event communications inform ac20 tion and encourage response. 

21 (5) SUPPORT PLAN.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall de23 velop a plan for the purpose of supporting the 

24 activities described in paragraph (3). 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 258 IS

1 (B) PERIODIC UPDATE AND ELEMENTS.— 

2 The plan developed under subparagraph (A) 

3 shall be periodically updated and informed by 

4 internal and extramural research and the re5 sults of the evaluation of hazardous weather 

6 and water event communications conducted 

7 under paragraph (4). 

8 (6) METHODS.—In carrying out this subsection, 

9 the Office shall develop and implement recommenda10 tions that— 

11 (A) are based on the best and most recent 

12 understanding from social, behavioral, risk, and 

13 communication science research; 

14 (B) are validated by social, behavioral, 

15 risk, and communication science, taking into ac16 count the importance of methods that support 

17 reproduction and replication of scientific stud18 ies, use of rigorous statistical analyses, and, as 

19 applicable, data analysis supported by artificial 

20 intelligence and machine learning technologies; 

21 (C) account for the needs of various demo22 graphics, vulnerable populations, and geo23 graphic regions; 

24 (D) account for the differences between 

25 various types of weather and water hazards; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 258 IS

1 (E) respond to the needs of Federal, State, 

2 and local government partners and media part3 ners; and 

4 (F) account for necessary changes in the 

5 infrastructure, technology, and protocols for 

6 creating and disseminating federally operated 

7 watches and warnings. 

8 (7) COORDINATION.—In implementing this sub9 section, the Office shall coordinate with— 

10 (A) Federal partners, including National 

11 Laboratories, Cooperative Institutes, and re12 gional integrated sciences and assessments pro13 grams; 

14 (B) State and local government partners; 

15 (C) Indian Tribes; 

16 (D) institutions of higher education; and 

17 (E) media partners. 

18 (8) TIMELINESS AND CONSISTENCY.—The Of19 fice shall develop best practices and guidance for en20 suring timely and consistent communication across 

21 public facing platforms that disseminate hazardous 

22 weather and water event information. 

23 (c) HAZARD COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AND EN24 GAGEMENT.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 258 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall 

2 establish or maintain a research program— 

3 (A) to modernize the creation and commu4 nication of risk-based, statistically reliable, 

5 probabilistic hazard information, with the goal 

6 of informing effective actions and encouraging 

7 responses to hazardous weather and water 

8 events; and 

9 (B) to improve the fundamental social, be10 havioral, risk, and communication science re11 garding hazardous weather and water event 

12 communication. 

13 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the re14 search program required by paragraph (1), the 

15 Under Secretary shall coordinate and communicate 

16 with States, Indian Tribes, localities, and emergency 

17 managers on research priorities and results. 

18 (3) PILOT PROGRAM FOR TORNADO HAZARD

19 COMMUNICATION REQUIRED.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—To further research 

21 into hazard communication, the Under Sec22 retary, in collaboration with one or more eligible 

23 institutions, shall establish a pilot program for 

24 tornado hazard communication to test the effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:27 Feb 04, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S258.IS S258

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 258 IS

1 tiveness of implementing the research conducted 

2 under this subsection with respect to tornadoes. 

3 (B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In 

4 this paragraph, the term ‘‘eligible institution’’ 

5 means any of the following: 

6 (i) A historically Black college or uni7 versity located in an area of persistent pov8 erty that is subjected to frequent severe 

9 weather, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, 

10 and floods. 

11 (ii) An institution of higher education 

12 in close proximity to a Weather Forecast 

13 Office of the National Weather Service. 

14 (d) DATA MANAGEMENT.—The Under Secretary 

15 shall establish, maintain, and improve a central repository 

16 system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin17 istration for social, behavioral, risk, and economic data re18 lated to the communication of hazardous weather and 

19 water events, including data developed or received pursu20 ant to paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b). 

21 (e) DIGITAL WATERMARKING.—The Under Secretary 

22 shall develop methods to reduce the likelihood of unauthor23 ized tampering with online hazardous weather and water 

24 event risk communication, such as developing digital wa25 termarks. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 258 IS

1 SEC. 4. WARN-ON-FORECAST STRATEGIC PLAN. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 

4 shall prepare and submit to Congress a strategic plan for 

5 developing and prioritizing the implementation of high6 resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous 

7 weather and water events using a next-generation weather 

8 forecast and warning framework. 

9 (b) PLAN ELEMENTS.—The strategic plan required 

10 by subsection (a) shall include the following: 

11 (1) A discussion of— 

12 (A) the priorities and needs of vulnerable 

13 populations and National Weather Service part14 ners; and 

15 (B) high-performance computing, visualiza16 tion, and dissemination needs. 

17 (2) A timeline and guidance for implementation 

18 of— 

19 (A) high-resolution numerical weather pre20 diction models; 

21 (B) methods for meeting the high-perform22 ance computing, visualization, and dissemina23 tion needs discussed under paragraph (1)(B); 

24 (C) real-time high-resolution probabilistic 

25 forecasts; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 258 IS

1 (D) improved observations, including 

2 through radars, satellites, and uncrewed aerial 

3 systems; 

4 (E) a flexible framework to communicate 

5 clear and simple hazardous weather and water 

6 event information to the public; and 

7 (F) social, behavioral, risk, and commu8 nication research to improve the forecaster 

9 operational environment and societal informa10 tion reception and response. 

11 SEC. 5. TORNADO RATING SYSTEM. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, in col13 laboration with such stakeholders as the Under Secretary 

14 considers appropriate— 

15 (1) evaluate the system used as of the date of 

16 the enactment of this Act to rate the severity of tor17 nadoes; and 

18 (2) determine whether updates to that system 

19 are required to ensure that the ratings accurately re20 flect the severity of tornadoes. 

21 (b) UPDATE REQUIRED.—If the Under Secretary de22 termines under subsection (a) that updates to the tornado 

23 rating system are necessary, the Under Secretary shall up24 date the system. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 258 IS

1 SEC. 6. POST-STORM SURVEYS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall per3 form one or more post-storm surveys and assessments fol4 lowing each hazardous weather or water event determined 

5 by the Under Secretary to be of sufficient societal impor6 tance to warrant a post-event survey and assessment. 

7 (b) COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary shall co8 ordinate with Federal, State, and local governments, In9 dian Tribes, private entities, and relevant institutions of 

10 higher education when conducting post-storm surveys and 

11 assessments under subsection (a) in order to optimize data 

12 collection, sharing, and integration. 

13 (c) DATA AVAILABILITY.—The Under Secretary shall 

14 make the data obtained from each post-storm survey and 

15 assessment conducted under subsection (a) available to the 

16 public as soon as practicable after conducting the survey 

17 and assessment. 

18 (d) IMPROVEMENT.—The Under Secretary shall— 

19 (1) investigate the role of uncrewed aerial sys20 tems in data collection during post-storm surveys 

21 and assessments conducted under subsection (a); 

22 (2) identify gaps in and update tactics and pro23 cedures to enhance the efficiency and reliability of 

24 data obtained from post-storm surveys and assess25 ments; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 258 IS

1 (3) increase the number of post-storm commu2 nity impact studies, including by— 

3 (A) surveying individual responses; 

4 (B) conducting review of the accuracy of 

5 prior risk evaluations; 

6 (C) evaluating the efficacy of prior mitiga7 tion activity; and 

8 (D) gathering survivability statistics. 

9 (e) SUPPORT FOR EMPLOYEES.—The Under Sec10 retary shall provide training, resources, and access to pro11 fessional counseling to support the emotional and mental 

12 health and well-being of employees conducting post-storm 

13 surveys and assessments under subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 7. VORTEX-USA PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103 of the Weather Re16 search and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (15 U.S.C. 

17 8513) is amended— 

18 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TOR19 NADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTEN20 SION’’ and inserting ‘‘VORTEX-USA’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘establish a 

22 tornado warning improvement and extension pro23 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘maintain a program for rap24 idly improving tornado forecast and warnings’’; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 258 IS

1 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

2 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; 

3 (4) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(d) WARNINGS.—The program required by sub6 section (a) shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) continue the research necessary to develop 

8 and deploy probabilistic weather forecast guidance 

9 technology for tornadoes; and 

10 ‘‘(2) incorporate, as appropriate, hazard com11 munication research. 

12 ‘‘(e) RESEARCH.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall, 

14 through the program required by subsection (a), 

15 award grants for research that focuses on improv16 ing— 

17 ‘‘(A) the social, behavioral, risk, commu18 nication, and economic sciences related to 

19 vulnerabilities, risk communication, and delivery 

20 of information critical for saving lives and prop21 erty related to tornadoes; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the physical sciences, engineering, 

23 and technology related to tornado formation, 

24 the interactions of tornadoes with the built and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 258 IS

1 natural environment, and the interaction of tor2 nadoes and hurricanes. 

3 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY INSTITUTIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants 

5 under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary may 

6 prioritize awarding grants to minority-serving 

7 institutions. 

8 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION OF MINORITY-SERVING

9 INSTITUTION.—In this paragraph, the term ‘mi10 nority-serving institution’ means— 

11 ‘‘(i) a part B institution (as defined in 

12 section 322 of the Higher Education Act 

13 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)); 

14 ‘‘(ii) a Hispanic-serving institution (as 

15 defined in section 502(a) of that Act (20 

16 U.S.C. 1101a(a))); 

17 ‘‘(iii) a Tribal College or University 

18 (as defined in section 316(b) of that Act 

19 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))); 

20 ‘‘(iv) an Alaska Native-serving institu21 tion (as defined in section 317(b) of that 

22 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))); 

23 ‘‘(v) a Native Hawaiian-serving insti24 tution (as defined in section 317(b) of that 

25 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))); 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 258 IS

1 ‘‘(vi) a Predominantly Black Institu2 tion (as defined in section 318(b) of that 

3 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059e(b))); 

4 ‘‘(vii) an Asian American and Native 

5 American Pacific Islander-serving institu6 tion (as defined in section 320(b) of that 

7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059g(b))); or 

8 ‘‘(viii) a Native American-serving, 

9 nontribal institution (as defined in section 

10 319(b) of that Act (20 U.S.C. 

11 1059f(b))).’’; and 

12 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 is authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary 

15 to carry out this section $11,000,000 for each of fiscal 

16 years 2025 through 2032, of which not less than 

17 $2,000,000 each fiscal year shall be used for grants 

18 awarded under subsection (e).’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 in section 1(b) of the Weather Research and Forecasting 

21 Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115–25; 131 Stat. 

22 91) is amended by striking the item relating to section 

23 103 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 103. VORTEX-USA program.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 258 IS

1 SEC. 8. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE REPORT 

2 ON HAZARDOUS WEATHER AND WATER 

3 ALERT DISSEMINATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

6 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

7 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

8 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

9 House of Representatives a report that examines the infor10 mation technology infrastructure of the National Weather 

11 Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis12 tration, specifically regarding the system for timely public 

13 notification of hazardous weather and water event alerts 

14 and updates. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

16 (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) An analysis of the information technology 

18 infrastructure of the National Weather Service, in19 cluding software and hardware capabilities and limi20 tations, including an examination of server and data 

21 storage methods, broadband, data management, and 

22 data sharing. 

23 (2) An identification of secondary and tertiary 

24 fail-safes for the timely distribution of hazardous 

25 weather and water event alerts to the public. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 258 IS

1 (3) A determination of the extent to which pub2 lic notifications are delayed and an identification of 

3 corrective measures that do not add additional noti4 fication time. 

5 (4) An assessment of whether collaboration with 

6 other Federal Government offices, States, or private 

7 entities could reduce delays in notifications to the 

8 public. 

9 (5) A description of actions being undertaken to 

10 better identify critical steps in the hazards notifica11 tion process that may be vulnerable to disruption or 

12 failure in the event of communication, technologic, 

13 or computational failure. 

14 SEC. 9. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN REPORT REQUIRE15 MENTS. 

16 (a) WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNO17 VATION ACT OF 2017.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 403 of the Weather 

19 Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 

20 (15 U.S.C. 8543) is amended by striking subsection 

21 (d). 

22 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 403(a) 

23 of such Act (15 U.S.C. 8543(a)) is amended by in24 serting ‘‘the’’ after ‘‘Director of’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 258 IS

1 (b) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN2 ISTRATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1992.—Section 106 

3 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

4 Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567; 106 

5 Stat. 4274) is amended by striking subsection (c) (15 

6 U.S.C. 1537). 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS