NATIONAL WINDSTORM 

IMPACT REDUCTION PROGRAM

BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORT TO CONGRESS

FOR FISCAL YEARS 2021 AND 2022
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This progress report for the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP) is submitted to 

Congress by the Interagency Coordinating Committee of NWIRP, as required by the National Windstorm 

Impact Reduction Act (NWIRA) of 2004 (Public Law 108-360, Title II), as amended by the NWIRP

Reauthorization of 2015 (Public Law 114-52). 

Interagency Coordinating Committee

Dr. Laurie E. Locascio - Chair 

Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan

Director 

National Science Foundation 

Dr. Arati Prabhakar

Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Executive Office of the President

Deanne Criswell

Administrator 

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Richard W. Spinrad

Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

U.S. Department of Commerce

Shalanda Young

Director 

Office of Management and Budget 

Executive Office of the President
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NWIRP Windstorm Working Group1

Staff

James G. LaDue 

Acting Director (2022 - present)

National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Marc Levitan

Lead Research Engineer

National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Scott Weaver

Director (2021)

National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program

Chief Operating Officer (2022 - 2023)

Interagency Council for Advancing 

Meteorological Services

Office of Science Technology and Policy

Steven McCabe

Associate Division Chief for National Hazards 

Statutory Programs

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Tina Faecke

Management and Program Analyst

National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Members (alphabetical order)

Jason Averill

William Blanton

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Tanya 

Brown-Giammanco

Joel Cline

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Daan Liang

Chungu Lu

National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

Kristin Ludwig Office of Science and Technology Policy

Jacqueline Meszaros National Science Foundation

Kathryn Mozer National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

1 Windstorm Working Group are agency representatives serving as members during the reporting period.
4

Shirley Murillo National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Robert O’Connor National Science Foundation

Long Phan

Jessica Schauer

Pataya Scott

Adam Smith 

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Federal Emergency Management Agency

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Jonathan Westcott Federal Emergency Management Agency

 
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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary..............................................................................................................................6

2. Background...........................................................................................................................................8

3. Windstorms and Their Impacts in 2021 and 2022 ..............................................................................12

3.1 2021 13

3.2 2022 15

4. Post-Windstorm Coordination During the Reporting Period..............................................................16

5. Progress in Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 .............................................................................................19

5.1 Strategic Priorities 20

5.2 Goal A: Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Processes and Hazards 22

5.3 Goal B: Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Impacts on Communities 25

5.4 Goal C: Improve the Resilience of Communities Nationwide 27

6. The Path Forward................................................................................................................................29

Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations................................................................................................32

Appendix B: NWIRP Strategic Goals, Objectives, and Priorities..............................................................36

Appendix C: Detailed NWIRP Agency Activities......................................................................................37

Appendix D: NWIRP Coordinated Budget.................................................................................................44
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1. Executive Summary

The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (NWIRP or Program) is a science- and engineeringbased coordinating Program whose stated mission is to achieve major measurable reductions in losses of 

life and property from windstorms, through a coordinated federal effort in cooperation with other levels of 

government, academia, and the private sector. The four designated Program agencies are the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA). This progress report for the Program is submitted to Congress by the NWIRP Interagency 

Coordinating Committee, as required by the NWIRA of 2004 (Public Law 108-360, Title II), as amended 

by the NWIRA Reauthorization of 2015 (Public Law 114-52). This report fulfills the requirement for Fiscal 

Years (FYs) 2021 and 2022.

From 1982-2022, severe thunderstorms and tropical cyclones (TCs) caused over $1.7 trillion in economic 

losses and over 8,000 fatalities in the United States (U.S.), with the vast majority of these losses occurring 

during the last two decades2

. Yet, the NWIRP agencies have made significant progress during this time of 

unprecedented increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and concomitant societal 

impacts. In 2018, the Program agencies released the NWIRP Strategic Plan, which sets forth a research-toapplications paradigm that integrates foundational research in understanding windstorm behavior, applied 

research to understand windstorm impacts, and applications and technology transfer to improve the 

windstorm resilience of the Nation. The various agency-specific contributions and accomplishments in 

advancing the NWIRP research-to-applications paradigm during FYs 2021-2022 are documented in Section 

5 and organized around the NWIRP strategic goals. 

Highlights of agency contributions include significant improvements to the understanding of hurricane 

intensification processes which led to improved hurricane forecasts, progress in the understanding of 

tornadic vs. non-tornadic storms, advancements in Warn-on-Forecast and other storm scale modeling, 

advancements in the science of wind mapping to inform engineering-based design standards, improved 

coordination practices and increased resources for scientific research in support of post-windstorm 

investigations, and implementation of post-windstorm research-based recommendations into codes and 

standards development processes such as provisions for windstorm resistant construction, a new storm 

shelter standard, and inclusion of tornado wind loading factors into a new standard for high occupancy and 

essential use buildings.

In addition to the agency-specific contributions to windstorm impact reduction during the reporting period, 

NWIRP has strengthened interagency coordination mechanisms amongst the designated Program agencies. 

In its 2015 authorizing legislation (Public Law 114-52), the U.S. Congress directs NIST to “coordinate all 

Federal post-windstorm investigations, to the extent practicable.” In recognition of the need to devise 

formal guidance to implement this directive for landfalling TCs, in 2020 the NWIRP agencies developed a 

“Tropical Cyclone Coordination Plan for Science and Technology” – a living document that outlines the 

windstorm coordination roles of the NWIRP agencies across all phases of TC disasters from pre- to postlandfall. This coordination plan was used following Hurricane Ian in 2022 to guide scientific information 

sharing, agency decision making processes relevant to post-windstorm investigations, identification and 

2 Visit https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/time-series
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development of scientific interagency collaborative opportunities, and information dissemination in the 

aftermath of TC disasters. 

In 2022, after two years of largely remote-only coordination due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NWIRP 

agencies returned to more normal operations. For the first time in two years, NWIRP agencies have ramped 

up travel to collect data, both longitudinally and in immediate response to severe weather events. All 

NWIRP agencies have been able to increase their on-site decision support and data collection activities 

immediately preceding and following major tornado events and TCs including major Hurricanes Ida and 

Ian.

As windstorm impacts grow due to a variety of factors, including increases in population and changing 

frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, it is critical that the NWIRP agencies continue to 

implement the NWIRP Strategic Plan. Furthermore, NWIRP identifies new opportunities for improved 

synergy across scientific disciplines, interagency engagement, and education and outreach to amplify

awareness of NWIRP and support the development of the next generation of windstorm scientists and 

engineers. The path forward represents visions in which NWIRP would become active should they be 

supported: 

● expanding awareness of the NWIRP research-to-applications paradigm across the federal enterprise 

and beyond; 

● strengthening NWIRP post-windstorm assessments by supporting federal coordination with 

university-based researchers; 

● exploring the application of climate change model projections to inform the development of 

forward-looking national structural design standards, building codes, and other climate resilience 

applications; 

● contribute to building a Weather Ready Nation by integrating scientific advances in real-time 

impact-based extreme weather event forecasting and delivery, informed by social science and 

engineering disciplines, to elicit the appropriate responses by individuals and organizations;

● supporting the implementation of recommendations from interagency post-windstorm research; 

and, 

● integrating scientific advances in real-time extreme weather event forecasting and social sciences 

to enhance emergency communication and life safety warning information to the public.

The NWIRP agencies are committed to advancing these priorities to reduce windstorm impacts across the 

Nation. 
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2. Background 

Windstorms, along with associated flooding, hail, and wildfires, produce more losses in the U.S. than any 

other hazard. 

Windstorms and associated flooding, hail, and wildfires comprise the majority of individual loss-producing

natural hazard events that exceed $1 billion in the U.S.,

3 with hurricanes and tornadoes comprising the

majority of losses related to life and property. From 1982-2022, severe thunderstorms and TCs caused over 

$1.7 trillion in economic losses and over 8,000 fatalities.4 The trends in losses from wind and related 

hazards continues to rise. In recognition of the need to significantly decrease economic costs and loss of 

life, Congress established NWIRP.5

NWIRP is a federal interagency science- and engineering-based Program focused on achieving major 

measurable reductions in losses of life and property from windstorms. The four designated Program 

agencies are NIST, NOAA, NSF, and FEMA. NWIRP collaborates with other levels of government, 

academia, and the private sector. 

Since NWIRP’s inception in 2004, the participating agencies have made notable progress. Some of the 

improvements include: 

• the understanding of hurricane intensification processes which led to improved hurricane 

forecasts;

6

• progress in the understanding of tornadic vs. non-tornadic storms;

• advancements in Warn-on-Forecast and other storm scale warn-on-forecast modeling;

• advancements in the science of wind mapping to inform engineering-based design standards;

• improved coordination practices and increased resources for scientific research in support of postwindstorm investigations; and 

• implementation of post-windstorm research-based recommendations into codes and standards 

development processes such as provisions for windstorm-resistant construction, a new storm shelter 

standard, and inclusion of tornado wind loading factors into a new standard for high occupancy and 

essential use buildings.

However, challenges in windstorm impact mitigation efforts remain. The Nation continues to experience 

increasing property losses due to extreme weather events, as evidenced by the devastating severe weather 

and tornado outbreaks in 2011, 2013, 2020, and 2021 and the recent set of damaging hurricane seasons 

from 2017 to 2022. The loss of life and property from Hurricane Ian’s storm surge of 2022 highlighted 

the vulnerability of coastal residents even when storm surge warnings were issued a day in advance. The 

increased losses originate from two major causes. First, only 36% and 26% of U.S. communities have 

adopted hazard resistant building codes for FY 2021 and FY 2022, respectively, leaving many areas 

where new and existing buildings remain vulnerable to severe storms (Figure 1).

7 These are percentages 

of tracked jurisdictions that adopted the 2015 or later IBC and IRC for FY21 and 2018 or later IBC and 

3 Visit https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/time-series/US

4 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information. Billion-dollar weather and 

climate disasters: Table of events. Retrieved from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/events/US/1982-2022

5 42 U.S.C. § 15703(a).

6 https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/verification/verify8.shtml

7 https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/building-science/bcat
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IRC for FY22 without removing or weakening the hazard resistant provisions of the codes for any of five 

hazards (flood, seismic, damaging wind, hurricane wind, and tornado) which present a high risk to the 

given community. Second, population (Figure 2A) and wealth are increasing in states vulnerable to severe 

wind storms, including hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes (Figure 2B).

8 This phenomenon 

is also known as the expanding bullseye effect which means more assets (e.g., homes) are subject to 

damage, even in areas with adopted building codes.

9 More than twice as many housing units could be 

exposed to TCs in 2100 compared to today in the largest urban areas along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts 

even if the climatological threat from these storms remain the same. Increasing population in areas 

exposed to wildfire and severe thunderstorms is likely to follow the same pattern of increasing damage 

costs. 

Figure 1. Building code adoption levels as of 2021 identified in the FEMA nationwide building code adoption tracker courtesy of 

a survey by the Building Code Effectiveness Grading Schedule.10. Each county is colored green where greater than 0% of 

jurisdictions reported adopting hazard-resistant building codes. Source: FEMA.

8 Klotzbach and co-authors, Continental U.S. Hurricane Landfall Frequency and Associated Damage: Observations and Future 

Risks, 2018, https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/99/7/bams-d-17-0184.1.xml

9 Freeman and Ashley, Changes in the US hurricane disaster landscape: the relationship between risk and exposure, 2017, Natural 

Hazards DOI 10.1007/s11069-017-2885-4

10 https://www.isomitigation.com/bcegs/
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Figure 2A. Change in state population from 2010 to 2020 identified by the US Census Bureau. Source: 

https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2021/dec/2020-percent-change-map.html

Figure 2B. Design Tornado Wind Speeds (red contours) and Basic Wind Speeds (black contours) for 

Risk Category III buildings occupying an 100 Kft2 developed by NIST for the ASCE 7-22 Building Loads 

Standard. Higher wind speeds reflect higher risk levels of winds from tornadoes and other phenomena 

(e.g., tropical cyclones).

Furthermore, other challenges remain to be addressed.

● In terms of the metrics for performance, operational tornado warning accuracy values have 

consistently plateaued since the historic outbreak season of 2011,

11 after years of gradual increasing 

annual accuracy values following the National Weather Service (NWS) modernization in the 

1990’s and early 2000’s. After the 2011 season, there was a community-wide emphasis on the 

11 Correia and Brooks, 2018: Long-Term Performance Metrics for National Weather Service Tornado Warnings.

https://doi.org/10.1175/WAF-D-18-0120.1
11

messaging of known tornado threats and reductions in false alarms which over time was reflected 

in a slight decrease in mean tornado warning lead times to around 10 minutes, annually.

● Wildfires are burning more acreage now than before, from an average of 3,000,000 acres per year 

in the late 1980s to 8,000,000 acres burned per year in the 2020s. Of note, the largest fires since 

2020 were recorded in the states of California, Colorado, and New Mexico. Many of these fires 

featured explosive wind-driven growth rates such as with the Camp, CA fire of 2018 and Marshall, 

CO fire of 2021. These fires are also creating more fire-generated tornadoes, such as the one in the 

Carr, CA fire of 2018 where a firefighter was killed and a neighborhood was damaged well outside 

the burn zone.

12 A later fire near Loyalton, CA resulted in the first ever tornado warning issued by 

the NWS for a fire-generated tornado.13 Fire tornado research is young relative to research on 

traditional tornadoes and the NWS has little guidance to support fire-related tornado or other firegenerated windstorm warnings. Yet, the combined hazards of wind-driven wildfire, and firegenerated tornadoes represent an increasing concern as population and wealth accumulate in areas 

of increasing fire risk.14

● Wind-generated storm surges are also resulting in rising losses as the previously noted increasing 

amount of coastal wealth and population are exposed to rising sea levels.

15 The rising surge-related 

property damage highlights a vulnerability of our population along coastlines and the need to

improve our understanding of all of the mechanisms of storm surge that affect buildings and 

infrastructure including inundation depth, water current velocity, wave action and debris impacts. 

Subsequently, building surge resistance standards need to be updated to address new research 

findings.

● Global warming challenges our efforts to mitigate wind-induced losses, partly due to a limited 

understanding of the likely spatial and temporal changes in the wind and related hazards. As global 

warming continues, the confidence is high for increasing wildfire risk,

16 is medium for TC

intensity,

17 and is low for severe local storms, including tornadoes.18 Research is needed to continue 

to firm up the confidence of past and future trends of severe winds and related hazards. Parallel 

research needs to evaluate how building performance standards would need to change in the next 

century assuming continued global warming.

Continuing to improve windstorm impact reduction measures requires a research-to-applications paradigm 

featuring a sustained and robust interdisciplinary approach based on:

● meteorological and climate science research to better understand the short- and long-term changes 

in the behavior and impact of windstorms on society;

12 Lareau, N. J., and co-authors, Fire-Generated Tornadic Vortices, 2022: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 

https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0199.1

13 https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/16/california-fire-tornado-warning/

14 https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/02/new-timeline-deadliest-california-wildfire-could-guide-lifesaving-research

15 Masters, F., How sea level rise contributes to billions in extra damage during hurricanes, Yale Climate Connections, 

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/10/how-sea-level-rise-contributes-to-billions-in-extra-damage-during-hurricanes/

16 https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1607171113

17 Walsh and Co-authors, 2015: Hurricanes and Climate: The U.S. CLIVAR Working Group on Hurricanes, Bulletin of the 

American Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-13-00242.1

18 Taszerak and Co-authors, 2021: Differing Trends in United States and European Severe Thunderstorm Environments in a 

Warming Climate, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0004.1
12

● engineering research on improving new structures and retrofitting existing ones to better withstand 

windstorms; and

● social sciences research to understand economic and social factors influencing windstorm risk 

reduction measures. 

The primary functions of NWIRP are carried out by two interagency coordinating bodies. The Windstorm 

Working Group (WWG), composed of scientists and program/portfolio leaders, meets approximately once 

every two months to implement the Program. The Interagency Coordinating Committee, comprised of the 

heads of the four designated Program agencies (FEMA, NIST, NOAA, and NSF), the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), meets annually 

to discuss the direction of the Program and make decisions regarding interagency implementation of the 

NWIRP Strategic Plan. A detailed history of NWIRP statutory and technical Program activities from FYs 

2005-2018 has been documented in a series of previous biennial reports to Congress.19

The structure of this report is as follows: 

● Section 3 presents a brief overview of windstorm impacts during FYs 2021-2022. 

● Section 4 discusses NWIRP interagency post-windstorm coordination activities during the 

reporting period. 

● Section 5 details agency specific activities in support of the NWIRP strategic priorities and the 

three NWIRP strategic goals. 

● Section 6 briefly articulates a shared vision for the path forward.

● Appendices include a listing of NWIRP strategic objectives and priorities, detailed descriptions of 

select agency technical activities, and recent interagency coordinated budget information.

3. Windstorms and Their Impacts in 2021 and 2022

The number of individual severe storm, TC and wildfire events with losses exceeding $1 billion fell slightly 

in FYs 2021-2022 from their peak in 2020 (Figure 3). However, they align with the overall trend of 

increased events occurring each year since 1980. Thirty-one events related to wind occurred over these two 

years – 22 of them from severe thunderstorms, seven from TCs and two from wildfires – each with losses 

exceeding $1 billion (Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjusted for inflation).20 As in 2020, these numbers 

exceeded the totals in any year prior to 2020.21

19 NWIRP Biennial Reports to Congress, https://www.nist.gov/el/mssd/nwirp/biennial-reports-congress.

20 Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Historical Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). 

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/supplemental-files/historical-cpi-u-202109.pdf.

21 This biennial progress report uses the billion-dollar disasters as the official NWIRP disaster impact metric as tracked by NOAA, 

a designated Program agency. By design, this metric may not include the totality of windstorm disaster losses in the U.S.

Conversely, the contribution of wind to total wildfire losses is poorly documented. However, it provides a comprehensive historical 

time series to track long term variability and trends in windstorm losses. 
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Figure 3. Number of individual tropical cyclone (yellow), severe storm (green) and wildfire (orange) events from 1980-2022 

exceeding one billion USD (inflation adjusted) comprise the majority of all $1 billion hazards. The annual cost is in gray and its 

five-year running mean in black. Source: NOAA.

3.1 2021

As in the previous four years, 2021 was a more active hurricane season than usual with 21 named storms

and seven hurricanes, four of them reaching major hurricane status. About $80.4 billion of the season's 

losses of $84 billion came from one storm, Hurricane Ida, as its center directly struck Port Fourchon, LA

at category 4 status. This ties losses from Ida with Hurricane Laura in 2020 and the Last Island, LA

hurricane of 1856 as the strongest to make landfall in LA.

22 Grand Island, LA, just east of landfall, was 

severely impacted as 40% of all buildings were destroyed with wind gusts exceeding 120 miles per hour 

(mph) and a 10-foot storm surge.

23 Hurricane wind conditions extended to the northern shoreline of Lake 

Pontchartrain. As Ida moved into the northeastern U.S., it became extratropical and produced Enhanced 

Fujita (EF) 2 tornadoes near Annapolis, MD and Montgomery County, PA, and an EF3 tornado in 

Gloucester County, NJ. These were the strongest of 35 tornadoes associated with Ida. Finally, severe flash 

flooding was reported from Philadelphia to New York City as rainfall exceeded 10” in some areas. Central 

Park, in New York City, reported 7.19” of rain where 3.04” fell in one hour, a record for the station. 

Other remarkable windstorm events occurred in 2021. The December 10-11, 2021 Quad-State Tornado 

Outbreak resulted in 93 fatalities, $4 billion in losses and 800 miles of tornado tracks (Figure 4). The most 

severe tornado traveled 166 miles with a peak EF4 intensity, and would have been by far the longest tornado 

track in history had there not been a five-mile gap between it and a previous 80-mile-long tornado track 

produced by the same parent storm. The towns of Mayfield, Dawson Springs, and Bremen in Kentucky 

were especially hit hard, among other smaller communities, resulting in 57 deaths and over 500 injuries. 

22 Hurricane Ida summary, https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092021_Ida.pdf

23 https://www.weather.gov/lix/pshhurricaneida
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Another tornado struck Bowling Green, KY damaging neighborhoods and an industrial park, resulting in 

17 fatalities and 53 injuries. Tornadoes also impacted areas around St. Louis including one that hit an 

Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, IL causing six fatalities at the site. The December 15 derecho from 

Kansas to Minnesota resulted in the farthest north tornado outbreak on record for so late in the year. More 

than 50 tornadoes caused $1.9 billion in damage and one fatality. Severe winds from the derecho’s parent 

storm produced wind gusts up to 100 mph in north central Kansas resulting in a severe dust storm, building 

damage, vehicle rollovers, and numerous wildfires.

24 The year accumulated 1314 tornadoes according to 

the Storm Prediction Center.

25

As for wildfires, more acres were burned in 2021 than on average due to severe drought in the western U.S. 

An especially notable wildfire on December 30 west of Marshall, CO, just south of Boulder burned 6000 

acres, destroying more than 1000 homes as it rapidly spread out of control as downslope winds exceeded 

100 mph.

26 A cessation of the severe winds and firefighting efforts prevented this fire from consuming even 

more homes. Much larger fires occurred farther west, including the Dixie Fire in California (960,000 acres 

and 1000 structures lost), the Caldor Fire in California (220,000 acres) and several other huge fires in 

Oregon, Montana, and Arizona. These fires and others burned 7.21 million acres and resulted in $11.4 

billion in losses.

27

24https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/2021/12/15/kansas-weather-high-wind-storms-hail-tornado-possible-dangerous-fireconditions-wednesday/8906410002/

25 https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/STAMTS21.txt

26https://assets.bouldercounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/marshall-fire-investigative-summary.pdf

27 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/events/US/2021
15

Figure 4. A damage track map from the 10 December 2021 tornado outbreak. The red tracks represent violent (EF4) tornadoes, 

including the easternmost one that struck Mayfield, KY.

3.2 2022

The TC-induced losses in 2022 were dominated by one event. Hurricane Ian exemplified the saying “it only 

takes one storm” when it roared ashore in southwest Florida on September 29 as a high-end category 4 

storm, the only major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. in 2022.28 The storm crossed the Florida 

Peninsula, exiting the east coast near Cape Kennedy only to make a second landfall near Myrtle Beach, SC 

as a category 1 hurricane.29 In what had been a below normal hurricane season in terms of impacts on the 

U.S. up to late September, “Ian” produced the second largest CPI-adjusted losses from a U.S. hurricane 

landfall on record (Hurricane Katrina was the costliest). “Ian” also was responsible for 152 fatalities, 

ranking number 21 of the deadliest U.S. mainland landfalling hurricanes on record.30 Many of the fatalities 

were older residents and/or residents with restricted mobility, as a 7- to 15-foot storm surge inundated large

28 https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL092022_Ian.pdf

29 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/events/US/2022

30 https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/articles/deadliest-us-hurricanes
16

areas of populated lowland.

31 The surge, compounded by strong currents, wave action and debris impacts, 

also resulted in the destruction of wood-frame and manufactured housing. The wind, on the other hand, 

revealed the benefits of modern building codes in resisting damage. Buildings built to these codes suffered 

minor damage compared to older buildings lacking modern retrofits. Despite the improved building 

resilience and the increase in numbers of new homes and other buildings since 2004, when Hurricane 

Charley roared ashore in the same area, there were still large property losses.

32

The tornado count in 2022 was lower than average with a preliminary count of 1331.

33 The most active 

period was from mid-March to mid-April and then in November. While none of the tornadoes in 2022 

approached the strength and longevity of the most intense tornadoes of 2021, there were some worthy of 

mention. For instance, on March 22, an EF3 tornado struck districts on the east side of New Orleans, with 

Arabi being hardest hit. Numerous homes were destroyed with two fatalities; however, ironically, the 

damage could have been worse were it not for the high number of lots remaining empty following Hurricane 

Katrina. On December 14, another tornado struck the east and south sides of New Orleans, including Arabi. 

A strong tornado struck Gaylord, Michigan on May 20 and plowed through shopping centers and 

neighborhoods, killing two and injuring 44. It was the first EF3 or stronger tornado since 1991 for the 

northern portion of lower Michigan. There were four EF4 tornadoes in 2022 that resulted in seven fatalities. 

One struck Pembroke, GA on April 5, starting near Fort Stewart. Two EF4 tornadoes formed on November 

4 starting in northeast Texas and moving into southeast Oklahoma. One of them came close to hitting Idabel, 

OK. Perhaps the anomalous violent tornado of the year was a very early season EF4 tornado that traveled 

for 70 miles and resulted in seven deaths in southern Iowa on March 5. This tornado carved the longest 

track in Iowa since 1984 and came close to striking the Des Moines metro area.

34 This year also featured 

three multi-state organized intense derechos. 

On May 12, a derecho developed over Nebraska and moved into eastern South Dakota and western 

Minnesota, bringing a wall of dust and wind gusts of greater than 100 mph south of Sioux Falls, resulting 

in estimated losses of $2.5 billion. On June 13, thunderstorms produced severe winds from Chicago, 

southeastward into West Virginia. Supercell thunderstorms produced winds exceeding 90 mph in Chicago 

and Ft. Wayne. Total losses from these events exceeded $3.2 billion.

35

4. Post-Windstorm Coordination During the Reporting Period

In NWIRP’s 2015 authorizing legislation (Public Law 114-52), the U.S. Congress directs NIST to 

“coordinate all Federal post-windstorm investigations, to the extent practicable.” Through the NWIRP 

WWG, several post-windstorm coordination activities were conducted during the reporting period. These 

included interagency NWIRP meetings that were held to provide an open forum for interagency information 

exchange in the aftermath of several weather disasters throughout FYs 2021-2022, and a data sharing 

workshop for the Quad-State Tornado Outbreak. Some examples follow.

31 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/us/hurricane-ian-victims.html

32 https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/09/28/florida-population-growth-hurricane-ian-path/

33 https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/STAMTS22.txt

34 https://www.weather.gov/dmx/March5th2022Tornadoes

35 https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/events/US/2022?disasters[]=severe-storm
17

Hurricane Ida

Hurricane Ida made landfall southwest of New Orleans in August 2021, following the devastating twin 

impacts of Hurricanes Laura and Delta, farther west in Louisiana in 2020. NIST produced rapid estimates 

of the surface level peak gust winds under a Mission Assignment (MA) from FEMA to support their Hazus 

Hurricane Model loss estimates (Figure 5). NIST widely distributed these results to federal and academic 

hurricane researchers as well as private sector stakeholders, through FEMA’s public disaster geodatabase 

website,

36 the NSF-supported DesignSafe-CI Recon Portal,37 the NSF-supported Structural Extreme Events

Reconnaissance (StEER) Network Hurricane Ida Slack Channel, and stakeholder emails and briefings. 

Figure 5. A map of preliminary peak wind gusts for Hurricane Ida in 2021 adjusted to a common exposure setting similar to an 

open grass field. This product was developed by NIST, in conjunction with Applied Research Associates.

36 https://disasters.geoplatform.gov/publicdata/NationalDisasters/2021/HurricaneIda_August2021/NIST_Windfield/

37https://www.designsafeci.org/data/browser/public/designsafe.storage.community/Recon%20Portal/2021%20Hurricane%20Ida%20New%20Orleans%20

Louisiana%20USA/Windfield%20Map
18

Quad-State Tornado Outbreak

After the historic Quad-State Tornado Outbreak of December 10-11, 2021, NIST held a meeting of the 

WWG on this outbreak – with briefings regarding agency activities and sharing of data collection and 

research plans. This was followed up with a half-day virtual workshop on data and information sharing on 

March 7, 2022, for the dozen or so federal and federally-supported research teams studying the tornadic 

wind fields, building performance, emergency response, and recovery. Feedback from the participants 

indicated that the workshop was very beneficial to their research and planning for additional field 

deployments.

The Quad-State Outbreak included an EF4 tornado that hit northwest Tennessee and western Kentucky and 

another EF3 tornado in Kentucky. FEMA deployed a pre-Mitigation Assessment Team (pre-MAT) to 

Kentucky from 19 to 23 December 2021 to investigate building damage and look for safe rooms or storm 

shelters that may have been hit along those two paths, focusing on the EF4 track. A couple of important 

conclusions from this investigation were that rural areas would benefit from residential safe rooms due to 

the distance and time to get to a community safe room and that proper enforcement of building codes would 

help mitigate some of the damages they saw that were preventable. 

Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian prompted a number of responses among the NWIRP agencies. NOAA’s National Severe 

Local Storms Laboratory sent ground-based mobile weather stations, precipitation disdrometer sensors, and 

two mobile radars to collect wind and precipitation data. NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and 

Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) collected a wide variety of data, from sail drones to data collected via 

reconnaissance aircraft. The NWS’s operational radar, surface, upper air, and polar and geostationary 

satellites documented the evolution of Ian, which was analyzed in gridded products such as the Real-Time 

Mesoscale Analysis.

NIST produced rapid estimates of the surface level peak gust winds under MA from FEMA to support their 

Hazus Hurricane Model loss estimates (Figure 6). NIST widely distributed these results to federal and 

academic hurricane researchers as well as private sector stakeholders through FEMA’s public disaster 

geodatabase website,

38 the NSF-supported DesignSafe-CI Recon Portal,39 the NSF-supported StEER 

Network Hurricane Ida Slack Channel, and stakeholder emails and briefings. 

The NSF-supported StEER Network deployed several teams to document the impacts from Ian. Virtual 

data gathering began from before landfall to more than one week afterward. Teams initially collected streetlevel panorama data throughout Lee and Charlotte Counties. A follow-up team assessed the integrity of 

structures; flew large, fixed wing drones; and collected high-water mark data. The data was made available 

online for quick perusal by researchers, and practitioners.

40

38 https://disasters.geoplatform.gov/publicdata/NationalDisasters/2021/HurricaneIda_August2021/NIST_Windfield/

39https://www.designsafeci.org/data/browser/public/designsafe.storage.community/Recon%20Portal/2021%20Hurricane%20Ida%20New%20Orleans%20

Louisiana%20USA/Windfield%20Map

40 https://www.steer.network/hurricane-ian
19

Figure 6. Similar to Figure 4 except for Hurricane Ian and the shaded background indicating peak wind gusts.

5. Progress in Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022

The NWIRP agencies initiated implementation of the NWIRP Strategic Plan41 (released in late FY 2018) 

by focusing on advancing agency-relevant objectives across the Plan’s three strategic goals and eight 

strategic priorities. The goals form a two-way research-to-applications paradigm that focuses on improving 

fundamental understanding of windstorm morphology, advancing understanding of impacts to the built 

environment and related social and economic recovery mechanisms, and deployment of this basic and 

applied research to improve the resilience of communities nationwide. These goals are well-suited to 

address the challenges presented in Section 2 of this report. In this section of the report, the NWIRP agencies 

provide brief descriptions of key activities that support the three goals of the NWIRP Strategic Plan. Each 

entry also includes its relevance to 14 objectives and eight strategic priorities listed in Appendix B, which 

underpin the goals of the NWIRP Strategic Plan. 

41 See Appendix B for a complete list of NWIRP strategic goals, objectives and priorities.
20

5.1 Strategic Priorities

FEMA: FEMA develops and maintains the Hazus model, a nationally applicable standardized methodology 

that contains models for estimating potential losses from multiple hazards, including hurricane winds. 

Hazus uses geographic information system (GIS) technology to estimate physical, economic, infrastructure, 

and social impacts of disasters and graphically illustrates communities of high-risk due to a region’s 

hazards. Users can then visualize the spatial relationships between populations and other more permanently 

fixed geographic assets or resources for the specific hazard being modeled, a crucial function in the 

mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of the emergency management decision making 

process. The current Hazus model runs as a standalone program. However, FEMA is also researching cloud 

computing technologies to decrease processing times required for future hurricane response Hazus loss 

estimation efforts. This effort is known as OpenHazus. (Strategic Priority 1)

FEMA: Education, Outreach, and Information Dissemination. Each year, many thousands of 

publications dealing with wind hazards are ordered and distributed by FEMA. For example, FEMA’s safe 

room guidance publications are among the most widely downloaded and distributed documents by FEMA’s 

library and publications warehouse. In FY 2021, FEMA updated their safe room guidance publications and 

multiple fact sheets. The two main publications included FEMA’s most popular publication, FEMA P320,

42 Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building or Installing a Safe Room for Your Home, and FEMA P361,

43 Safe Rooms for Tornadoes and Hurricanes: Guidance for Community and Residential Safe Rooms. 

FEMA will continue these and other efforts to improve wind-resistant provisions of codes and standards. 

(Strategic Priorities 5, 6 and 7)

NIST/FEMA: Storm Shelter Standard. NIST and FEMA staff serve on the committee (chaired by a NIST 

staff member) responsible for development of the International Code Council (ICC)/National Storm Shelter 

Association (NSSA) Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters. The third edition of the 

standard (ICC 500-2020) was completed and published during this reporting period, including a new 

appendix on storm shelter operations. Numerous change proposals submitted by NIST and FEMA were 

incorporated. The separate commentary to the third edition was also completed, and work began on the 

fourth edition of the standard. (Objective 11; Strategic Priority 7)

NIST: Windstorm Hazard Measurement Science. Four university awardees of NIST FY 2019 Disaster 

Resilience Research Grants44 continued to deploy mobile remote sensing and in-situ observation systems 

to augment wind hazard data collection in extreme weather events and to conduct post-windstorm scientific 

analyses to improve understanding of the wind hazard environment at engineering relevant scales (much of 

the planned fieldwork during the previous reporting period was delayed due to the pandemic). Data were 

collected for: Hurricanes Delta and Ian, thunderstorms during May-July 2021 in several locations in Texas, 

Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, and in Kentucky following the Quad-State Tornado Outbreak in December 

2021. (Objectives 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Strategic Priorities 2, 3)

NIST: Performance-Based Design for Windstorm Hazards. NIST awarded a contract to the American 

Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in FY 2022 to conduct a stakeholder workshop to review the current 

42 https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_taking-shelter-from-the-storm_p-320.pdf

43 https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_safe-rooms-for-tornadoes-and-hurricanes_p-361.pdf

44 https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2019/08/nist-awards-66-million-research-help-structures-better-withstand
21

state-of-the-art in Performance-Based Wind Design and identify research needs and priorities. The 

workshop will be held in FY 2023, followed by publication of a report. (Strategic Priority 4)

NSF: Estimating Loss of Life due to Windstorms. Coordinating with the Centers for Disease Control, 

NSF funded a study of excess mortality associated with Hurricane Maria. The number of fatalities 

associated with that hurricane had become a point of debate, so a team from the NSF-funded Natural 

Hazards Center examined death certificates for six months following the hurricane to ascertain excess 

deaths and attribute causes. The methodology can be used in future events. (Strategic Priority 1)

NSF: Rapid Response Research (RAPID). NSF has the capability to issue awards quickly, based on 

internal review only, when there is severe urgency with regard to availability of or access to data. Most 

often, these grants for RAPID are issued when disasters strike and researchers need to get into the field 

quickly in order to gather data before it disappears or degrades in such a way that a scientific opportunity 

would be lost. During this reporting period, NSF issued more than 20 RAPID awards pertinent to NWIRP, 

including projects addressing the behavior and impacts of multiple tornadoes as well as Hurricanes Laura, 

Hanna, and Ida. RAPID research topics, which were proposed by university-based researchers, ranged from 

meteorological observations to measurement of impacts on natural and built environments, to evacuation 

behaviors, to effects on buildings and businesses (Strategic Priorities 1, 2).

NSF: Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites Program. NSF funds many research 

opportunities through its REU Sites program. An REU Site consists of a group of 10 or so undergraduates 

who work actively with faculty and other researchers on a shared research project. REU Sites aim to provide 

the kinds of exciting, engaging experiences that attract students to a career in science. They provide 

financial and housing support to the recipients and actively recruit students from schools where Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) research opportunities are limited or who are from 

groups typically underrepresented in STEM fields. During FYs 2021-2022, NSF funded at least five REU 

Sites particularly relevant to NWIRP: two dedicated to coastal resilience and research; one in partnership 

with NOAA dedicated to remote sensing; one on big data research for social change; and the long-standing 

Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) summer REU program that places students 

in each of its experimental facilities (including wind tunnels, wave research facilities, and simulation 

facilities) as well as into extreme event reconnaissance facilities. (Strategic Priority 8)

NSF: Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. NSF’s prestigious CAREER program 

supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as role models in research and education and 

to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. CAREER awards are five-year 

investments in extended research and education projects that free promising early-career faculty to 

concentrate on their work rather than writing proposals for funding. In this reporting period NSF made 23 

CAREER awards to scholars working on NWIRP-relevant research and education topics. (Strategic 

Priority 8)

NOAA: Education, Outreach, and Information Dissemination. NOAA continues to be actively engaged 

in outreach. The joint initiative, #HurricaneStrong, between the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes 

(FLASH®) and NOAA continues its goal to save lives and homes by providing hurricane safety and 

mitigation information through business summits, digital channels, events, home improvement store 

workshops, media outreach, school lesson plans, and a social media campaign featuring a #HurricaneStrong 
22

“pose”.

45 In addition to the aforementioned Weather-Ready ambassador program, NWS has been very 

active in preparedness activities with the public and its core partners. A small example of the activities 

appears here to reinforce the breadth of activities that occur. 

● The NWS conducted training for emergency managers at the 2022 Florida Governor’s Hurricane 

Conference. 

● The Shreveport, LA NWS conducted a press conference heralding the 2022 severe weather season.

● The NWS offices of Boston and Jacksonville conducted tabletop severe storm and hurricane 

exercises with their partners.

● The NWS Goodland, KS staffed booths at state fairs to educate attendees about severe weather 

safety.

● The NWS Morehead City, NC hosted a pre-season hurricane community forum for the public and 

core partners.

● The National Hurricane Center (NHC) installed a pole at the front entrance, color coded to 

demonstrate how various storm surge depths appear to visitors. 

These kinds of activities occur across all NWS offices in advance of severe storm, fire, and hurricane 

seasons. (Strategic Priorities 6, 7)

NOAA: Advances in Severe Storm Data Collection. The NWS has been improving its high-resolution 

post-storm data collection of severe wind data since 2011 with the advent of new GIS tools and improved 

access to aerial and satellite imagery. In FY 2022, the NWS introduced a Post-Storm Data Acquisition 

(PSDA) Readiness and Recognition Program to improve consistency of post-storm survey practices among 

all weather forecast offices. 

The NWS is also testing the collection of high-resolution storm surge and flood impact and water level 

information to better support forecast product verification efforts. The data will not be released to publicly 

viewable sites until this effort has been made operational. (Strategic Priorities 2, 3)

5.2 Goal A: Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Processes and Hazards

NIST: Topographic Effects on Wind Speeds. As part of its Hurricane Maria Program, NIST continued 

to make progress investigating the influence of topography on surface-level wind speeds in Puerto Rico. 

During FYs 2021-2022, NIST completed wind tunnel testing of topographic models representing Mayaguez 

and Yabucoa regions of Puerto Rico where the surrounding topography produces significant increases in 

wind speeds. NIST developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) procedure for modeling forests on 

topographic terrain using vegetation data from satellites, in order to better understand the wind speed-up 

effects and to determine if they are adequately represented by the topographic factors used in modern 

building codes and standards. NIST has also successfully recorded field wind velocity and direction data 

from anemometers on three cell towers in the Yabucoa region since March 2021 for evaluation of 

topographic effects and for validation of the wind tunnel and computational models. (Objectives 1, 2, 4, 6)

NIST/U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC): Tornado Hazard Maps. NIST completed a multiyear effort to develop the first-ever engineering-derived probabilistic tornado wind speed maps, which also 

45 https://hurricanestrong.org
23

account for the dependency of tornado risk on the plan size of a building or structure. These maps have 

been published in the ASCE 7-22 design load standard (see Goal C). The NRC provided financial support 

for explicit evaluation of epistemic (modeling) uncertainty, which was incorporated into the map 

development process. (Objective 4)

NOAA: New Observing Technologies. New observing technologies such as the Uncrewed Aerial Systems 

(UAS) that gathers data in the lower atmosphere and the Saildrone technology that sails in the open ocean 

gathering data were demonstrated as a part of NOAA’s Advancing the Prediction of Hurricanes Experiment 

(APHEX) in FYs 2021-2022. The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) has utilized UAS to gather 

atmospheric data and conduct tornado damage assessments as part of VORTEX-USA46 supported field 

programs. NSSL is also demonstrating the capabilities of the Phased Array Radar (PAR). The last few years 

of research and development have been focused on the installation, calibration, and initial data collection 

using the Advanced Technology Demonstrator, which is a full-scale demonstration radar that will be 

capable of assessing the ability of phased array technology to address the operational meteorological 

requirements of the NWS. In FYs 2021-2022 the Weather Program Office supported extramural research 

to advance observations needed for substantial improvement in forecasting and prediction of high-impact 

weather events. (Objective 2)

NOAA/NIST/FEMA/NASA/NRC/ASCE/AMS: Wind Speed Estimation (WSE) Standards 

Committee. The ASCE/Structural Engineering Institute (SEI)/American Meteorological Society (AMS)

WSE is continuing the work on developing a new standard on wind speed estimation in tornadoes and other 

windstorms from several methods. These include a significantly expanded EF-Scale, three tree-fall pattern 

analysis techniques, engineering forensics, Doppler radar measurements, and in-situ measurements 

involving anemometry. An additional supporting technique involving post-storm remote sensing-based 

condition analysis is also under development to support the other methods. Members of the ASCE/AMS 

WSE committee come from multiple affiliations, including NIST, NOAA, NASA, FEMA, NRC, non-profit 

agencies, private companies, and academic institutions. The WSE committee is in the midst of balloting 

draft content and will likely continue its balloting process for two more years. (Objective 2)

NOAA: Toward Seasonal Prediction and Long-term Severe Weather Variability. For nearly a decade, 

the NWS Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has worked with the NWS Climate Prediction Center (CPC), 

academia, and the NOAA NSSL to improve understanding of the links between large-scale climate 

variability and windstorm and tornado activity. Overall, although work and research on long-term 

prediction continues on several fronts, actionable progress that could lead to useful seasonal forecasts 

remains incremental. One such study of 40 years of high-resolution reanalyses (Taszarek et al 2020) showed 

that stronger convective inhibition has caused a decline in the frequency of thunderstorm environments 

over the southern U.S., particularly in summer. Conversely, increasingly favorable conditions for tornadoes 

have been observed during winter across the Southeast. (Objective 3)

NOAA: Advancing the Prediction of Hurricanes Experiment. NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division 

continues to improve hurricane-intensity forecasting through the Advancing the Prediction of Hurricanes 

Experiment. In FYs 2021-2022, the focus was on sampling storms through most of their lifecycle to 

understand their evolution including whether storms underwent rapid intensification. (Objective 3)

46 VORTEX-USA is the successor to VORTEX-SE.
24

NSF/NOAA: Field campaign to study tornadogenesis in the southeast U.S. NSF and NOAA 

collaborated to conduct a large field campaign (NSF-2020462; NSF-2020588) called PERiLS (Propagation, 

Evolution and Rotation in Linear Storms) in the states of Alabama and Mississippi in the spring of FYs 

2021 and 2022. The field campaign will continue in the spring of FY 2023. This work is aligned with 

another Congressionally mandated program called VORTEX-USA. The analyses of the data collected 

during the FYs 2021-2022 campaigns are currently underway, in parallel with the FY 2023 field campaign. 

(Objectives 1,2, 3, 8, 13; Strategic Priorities 1, 2, 3)

NSF/NOAA: In-situ and Remote-Sensing Measurements of Storm-Scale and Low-Level Tornado and 

Hurricane Winds. In FY 2022, the NSF and NOAA funded the field campaign “Targeted Observation by 

Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS)”47 awarded to University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Texas Tech 

University, University of Colorado-Boulder, and University of Oklahoma. The TORUS field campaign’s 

goal is to collect data to assist in improving the understanding of supercell thunderstorms and how they 

produce severe winds, hail and tornadoes. The researchers make heavy use of UAS, NOAA’s P3 aircraft, 

and surface and mobile radar observations to accomplish TORUS’s objectives. (Objectives 1, 3; Strategic 

Priority 2)

NSF: Major New Field Study of Extreme Rainfall. NSF is funding multiple universities to participate in 

an international field campaign examining the dynamics, thermodynamics, and microphysics of extreme 

rainfall generated in locations where hurricane/typhoon/monsoon flows occur frequently and interact with 

orography. (Objectives 1, 3; Strategic Priorities 2, 8)

NSF: Field Study of Wind Interactions with California Wildfires. NSF is funding the multi-university 

Sundowner Winds Experiment to improve understanding of downslope, gusty windstorms, which are 

recognized as important drivers of wildfire behavior in coastal settings. (Objectives 1, 3)

NSF: Multi-Year Research Projects Examining Fundamental Principles in Windstorms. NSF funded 

multi-year projects to improve understanding of supercell storms and formation of tornadoes through 

observations, modeling, and data science; new technology based on scientific theories and computer 

visualizations in four dimensions to improve the prediction of tornadoes and derechos; an examination of 

how severe thunderstorms and tornadoes may change in a future, warmer climate; investigations of various 

aspects of TC pathways, including development of a storm, rapid intensification, secondary eyewall cycle, 

as well as prediction of hurricane size and intensity; and studies on weather and wildfire interactions. 

(Objectives 1, 2, 3)

NSF: Services and Support for Academic and Agency Atmospheric Research. NSF’s National Center 

for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), provides necessary support for the U.S. academic community and 

collaborations with other federal agencies. In particular, during the reporting period, NCAR has provided 

data services to NOAA for the Congressionally-mandated program, VORTEX-USA, that studies 

tornadogenesis in the Southeast U.S. and now, elsewhere. In collaboration with NOAA, DOD, DOE and 

many other agencies, NCAR also continues to lead the development of community climate and weather 

prediction models that are widely used throughout the federal and private sectors and in the academic 

community. These models include CESM (Community Earth System Model); WRF (Weather Research 

47 https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1824649
25

and Forecast Model); MPAS (Model for Prediction Across Scales); and UFS (Unified Forecast System).

(Objectives 1, 2, 3)

5.3 Goal B: Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Impacts on Communities

FEMA: Mitigation Assessment Team (MAT) Program: FEMA conducts building performance studies 

after unique or nationally significant disasters to better understand how natural events affect the built 

environment. The MAT is deployed only when requested by the state or territory. The findings and 

recommendations derived from field observations and analyses are used to provide design and construction 

guidance that will improve the disaster resistance of the built environment in the affected state or region 

and often prove to be of national significance to other disaster-prone regions. The MAT studies the 

adequacy of current building codes, local construction requirements, building practices, and building 

materials considering the damage observed after a disaster. Lessons learned from the MAT’s observations 

are communicated through a comprehensive MAT report, Recovery Advisories, Fact Sheets, and Design 

Guides made available to communities to aid in their rebuilding effort and to enhance the disaster resistance 

of building improvements and new construction. In FY 2020, FEMA deployed a MAT for Typhoon Yutu 

(from October 2018) in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which resulted in two 

Recovery Advisories, two Fact Sheets, and a MAT report published in FY 2021. FEMA deployed a preMAT to Kentucky for the Quad State Tornado Outbreak in December 2021 and will be publishing two 

Recovery Advisories, a Fact Sheet, and a Design Guide in FY 2023 based on findings from the deployment. 

MAT deployments for Hurricane Ian that made landfall at the end of FY 2022 will occur in FY 2023. 

(Objective 5)

FEMA: Hazus Hurricane Loss Estimation Model: Based on substantial damage inspections and 

observed damages from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, FEMA enhanced Hazus by developing new wind 

damage functions and updated structural data specifically representative of building construction practices 

common in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). This increases the accuracy of FEMA’s Hazus 

loss estimations for Puerto Rico and USVI for future storms, and also will benefit other FEMA risk 

reduction programs. (Objective 9)

NIST: Hurricane Wind Field Analysis Mission Assignments: NIST conducted MAs for FEMA to 

develop rapid estimates of the surface-level wind fields for Hurricanes Delta, Ida, and Ian, in support of 

operational applications of the Hazus Hurricane Model and other disaster response needs. (Objective 9)

NIST: Tornado Loads on Buildings. NIST completed the development of a new tornado load

methodology that accounts for differences between tornadic and straight-line winds, and tornadic and 

straight-line wind-structure interaction. This methodology is the basis for the tornado load procedure in the 

ASCE 7-22 standard, as described in Goal C. (Objective 5)

NIST: Science-Based Methodologies for Aerodynamic Simulation to Determine Wind Loads on 

Buildings and Structures. NIST is engaged in an effort to develop practical CFD methods for the 

numerical determination of aerodynamic forces on structures induced by strong winds. Progress during FYs 

2021-2022 included development of a quantification procedure for numerical uncertainties in CFD 

simulation results to produce more accurate, site-specific wind loads, resulting in safer and more 

economical structures.(Objectives 5, 6)
26

NIST: Tools for Analysis of Measured Wind Pressure Data: NIST is developing next-generation 

methods and tools to better characterize wind loads on buildings and the response of these structures to 

extreme winds to advance performance-based design standards. During FYs 2021-2022, in partnership with 

a private structural engineering firm, NIST developed ETABS-based software for steel high-rise buildings 

allowing the effective and practical use of the Database-Assisted Design (DAD) procedures by structural 

engineering practitioners. (Objectives 5, 6)

NIST: Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning. The NIST-funded Center for RiskBased Community Resilience Planning (http://resilience.colostate.edu), is a collaborative effort between 

NIST and 14 universities led by Colorado State University. During FYs 2021-2022, the center released 

version 3.7.0 of IN-CORE (Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment). INCORE models the impact of a user-designed natural hazard (e.g., a tornado) on a community to evaluate 

user-modified physical and socio-economic attributes of a community. This allows community planners to 

test different models of disaster resilience planning with the goal of optimizing disaster response. 

(Objectives 5, 7; Strategic Priority 3)

NIST: Longitudinal Study of the Recovery of Lumberton, NC, from Hurricane Matthew: NIST 

conducted its fifth data collection in FY 2022 focused on documenting the impacts of COVID-19 and the 

ongoing recovery from Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Matthew for housing, businesses, and the public 

sector. The team also expanded the collection of forward leaning actions for preparedness, mitigation, and 

resilience to future events. With the fifth data collection, the team was able to resume in-person data 

collection. NIST also published the report from its third data collection in FY 2022. (Objectives 5, 7, 8)

NIST: Hurricane Maria Program: In FYs 2021-2022 NIST completed several important data collection 

activities as part of its multi-year National Construction Safety Team (NCST) investigation and NWIRP 

research study of the impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, including wind tunnel testing of building 

and topographic models to better understand the effects of topography on wind loads, information provider 

interviews and household surveys about the public’s response to emergency communications, hospital 

interviews and medical record abstraction to study hurricane-related deaths, collection and review of 

documentation on building design and performance for selected hospitals and buildings used as shelters, 

and surveys of manufacturing and retail service businesses on hurricane impacts and subsequent recovery. 

The findings will support recommendations for changes to codes, standards, and practices for the purpose 

of increasing community resilience in the face of hurricanes. (Objectives 1-14)

NOAA: State of Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model. NOAA continues to work on the Florida Public 

Hurricane Loss Model (FPHLM). The FPHLM is an open, transparent computer model that is used by the 

Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to provide a baseline for evaluating rate change requests for 

windstorm insurance. NOAA researchers at the AOML and the Cooperative Institute for Marine and 

Atmospheric Studies partnered with Florida International University researchers to update and maintain the 

wind model. Analyses of Hurricanes Isaias and Sally that affected Florida were completed. (Objective 9)

NSF: Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance (StEER) Network.

48 This NSF-supported research 

network developed quick-response datasets and reconnaissance reports for 11 windstorm events 

48 https://www.steer.network/.
27

(hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones) during the FYs 2021-2022 reporting period. The reports are free and 

available for download at https://www.steer.network/products. (Objectives 5, 8; Strategic Priority 3)

NSF: Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance (NEER) Network. NEER deployed fast-response 

research teams following Hurricane Ida in September of 2021 and Winter Storm Kenan in January 2022. 

The teams gathered pre-, during- and post-storm data relevant to ecosystems impacted by significant storms, 

including interactions between waves, surge, currents, sediments, and structures. (Objectives 5, 8; Strategic 

Priorities 2, 3)

NSF: SUstainable Material Management Extreme Events Reconnaissance (SUMMEER) Network.

During this reporting period, the SUMMEER network created and made publicly available a set of training 

webinars to aid researchers seeking to collect data about debris following disasters as well as webinars to 

help municipalities make decisions about disaster waste management. The training videos are free and 

available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClK3eBAc-nhPejZLiv4URHw. (Objectives 5, 8; 

Strategic Priority 6)

NSF: Wind Hazard and Infrastructure Performance Center (WHIP-C). This multi-university 

Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) addresses NWIRP-relevant research questions. 

The WHIP-C’s Industry Advisory Board members are drawn from insurance, risk-modeling, and building 

and construction industries, and NIST joined as a member in FY 2022. In this reporting period, the WHIPC initiated new studies of anchor requirements for roof systems, better field data about damage to improve 

risk models, and development of new fragility curves for tornado loads on low-rise buildings, among other 

topics. (Objectives 5, 7, 8, 9; Strategic Priorities 3, 4, 5)

NSF: Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI). During this reporting period, 

all of NHERI’s major experimental facilities dedicated to natural hazards research (see Appendix C), 

including several specifically pertinent to NWIRP topics, were renewed for an additional five years, 

ensuring continuity and support for the relevant research communities. In addition, NHERI began planning 

for a new wind, wave, and surge testing facility (known as the National Full-Scale Testing Infrastructure 

for Community Hardening in Extreme Wind, Surge, and Wave Events (NICHE)), and the NHERI 

Simulation Center established two new hurricane testbeds for the study of potential storm impacts, one for 

Atlantic County, NJ, and one for Lake Charles, LA. (Objectives 5, 6, 7, 9)

5.4 Goal C: Improve the Resilience of Communities Nationwide

FEMA: Improving Wind-Resistant Provisions. Significant improvements have been made to model 

building codes and national standards pertaining to design and construction of windstorm-resistant 

buildings and other structures as the result of NWIRP activities. FEMA continually defends provisions that 

mitigate damage from all natural disasters including high winds and proposes changes based on findings 

from post-disaster investigations such as the MAT reports. (Objective 5) 

Through a collaborative effort with stakeholders, FEMA makes available to the public a substantial library 

of guides and resources aimed at mitigating building damage49 and promoting safe construction and usage 

of shelters50 from severe windstorms and associated hazards. More FEMA publications, related to wind and 

49 https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/building-science

50 https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/safe-rooms/resources
28

coastal surge hazards, are available for free on FEMA’s media library website, the Google Books website, 

and MADCAD (http://www.madcad.com/). Many of these presentations and training interventions were 

focused on hurricane wind mitigation in areas that are currently rebuilding. FEMA also provides in-person 

and online training based out of the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, MD. FEMA 

includes advanced wind-related modules for in-person training courses at EMI. (Objective 11)

NIST: Translating R&D Advances into Model Building Codes and Standards. NIST-led efforts to 

incorporate the new tornado hazard maps and load methodology into the national load standard were 

successfully concluded with the inclusion of a new Chapter 32-Tornado Loads in the ASCE 7-22 StandardMinimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures. NIST collaborated 

with ASCE and FEMA to develop and submit a successful proposal to the ICC for inclusion of the ASCE 

7-22 Tornado Load requirements into the 2024 International Building Code (IBC). A collaborative proposal 

between NIST and industry to revise the velocity pressure profiles was also accepted in ASCE 7-22, 

improving safety for taller buildings. NIST made significant contributions to improvements in provisions 

for approach flow characteristics, testing procedures, and acceptance criteria in the ASCE 49-21, Standard 

for Wind Tunnel Testing for Buildings and other Structures. (Objective 11)

NOAA: Forecast Improvement Programs. 

● The Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (HFIP) major development focus in FYs 2021-2022 

was on building the next generation Hurricane model, Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System 

(HAFS), and adding multi-storm telescoping nest capabilities that provides a higher model 

resolution over the storm for track and intensity predictions. The storm-following telescopic 

moving nests are designed to satisfy the requirements of the resolution to resolve the TC’s largescale structure and forecast efficiency. (Objective 13)

● During FYs 2021-2022, the development and the eventual opening of the new testbed at NOAA’s 

NHC was realized. The Hurricane and Ocean Testbed will offer a physical place to bridge 

researchers with forecasters. It builds upon the work outlined by NOAA’s Joint Hurricane Testbed 

and will expand its focus to look at marine forecasts testing of new techniques, applications, and 

ensemble model enhancements to improve the analysis and prediction of TCs. (Objective 13)

● NSSL continues extensive work within NOAA testbeds and with operational units to evaluate an 

experimental Warn-on-Forecast (WoF) methodology, allowing forecasters to use thunderstormresolving computer models. (Objective 13)

● NOAA continues to develop a next generation hazardous weather forecast/warning paradigm called 

FACETs, which will provide users a continuously updating suite of probabilistic information about 

hazardous weather threats. Near term experimental probabilistic guidance for severe storm hazards 

(tornadoes, hail, wind and lightning) is being evaluated with NWS forecasters through the NOAA 

Hazardous Weather Testbed. As a first step, a project called Threats In Motion (TIM), where 

current polygon-based warnings are allowed to move with severe local storms, has undergone 

testing at the NWS Operations Proving Ground as well as the Hazardous Weather Testbed. Once 

implemented, there is a strong likelihood that TIM will improve the equitability of tornado and 

severe thunderstorm warning lead times. (Objective 13)

● The StormReady Program supports a Weather-Ready Nation (WRN) by preparing communities for 

the occurrence of high impact environmental events. Each year, the NWS targets a set number of 
29

new StormReady communities, pending funding availability. In FY 2021, there were 55 new 

StormReady communities added (FY 2021 milestone was 50). Through September 19, 2022 there 

were 76 new StormReady sites across the country for FY 2022 (FY 2022 milestone was 60). 

(Objective 14)

NSF/NIST: Joint Disaster Resilience Research Grants (DRRG) Program. DRRG aims to advance 

fundamental understanding of disaster resilience in support of improved, science-based planning, policy, 

decisions, design, codes, and standards. In FY 2022, 20 DRRG awards were issued, including 11 NWIRPrelevant projects. (Objectives 1-14)

NSF: Innovations for Improved Community Resilience. The CIVIC Innovation Challenge, which is run 

in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Energy (DoE), 

flips the usual community-university dynamic by asking communities to identify priorities ripe for 

innovation then partner with researchers to address those priorities. In this reporting period, CIVIC made 

six NWIRP-relevant awards in which researchers are working directly with communities to solve important 

disaster-related problems. (Objectives 10, 12, 13, 14)

NSF: Large-Scale Investments in Coastal Resilience. NSF’s Coastlines and People (CoPe) program 

issued two cohorts of large-scale “hub” awards during FY 2021 and FY 2022. Each CoPe Hub engages 

with communities vulnerable to storm and sea-level rise risks to jointly identify research priorities and coproduce knowledge, tools, and new interventions to reduce vulnerabilities and improve resilience to natural 

hazards. During this time period, CoPe issued seven new Focused Hub awards and four Large-Scale Hub 

awards, including a $20 million hub in an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research 

(EPSCoR) state that is developing a decision support tool that incorporates equity, economic conditions,

anticipated losses and resilience variables (i.e., not just anticipated losses, which is common) to support 

mitigation and recovery decisions. (Objectives 10, 12, 13, 14)

NSF: Researchers and Communities Collaborating to Define Needs and Opportunities. The NSF’s 

NHERI Program has funded a Decadal Visioning Project 2026-2035, to engage the relevant research 

communities in deliberations about what types of research infrastructure and resources will be most 

valuable to advance an understanding that can improve the Nation’s resilience to natural disasters going 

forward. Also, the NHERI Coordination Office is engaging with the relevant research communities to 

update its Five-Year Science Plan. These reports will help the decentralized U.S. natural hazards research 

communities to share priorities, findings, and resources for maximum effectiveness. (Objectives 12, 14)

6. The Path Forward

As windstorm impacts increase, it is critical that NWIRP agencies continue to implement the NWIRP 

Strategic Plan and identify new opportunities for improved synergy across scientific disciplines, 

interagency engagement, and education and outreach to amplify NWIRP awareness. Provided below are 

NWIRP visions in which the WWG has agreed are worthy elements of the strategic plan should they be 

supported and resources become available. These visions will be visited by the WWG and updated in the 

NWIRP Strategic Plan when the opportunity arises.

● Expand awareness of the NWIRP research-to-applications paradigm across the federal enterprise 

by engaging in interagency councils, committees, and working groups with equities in windstorm 
30

impact reduction measures, including but not limited to, the Interagency Council for Advancing 

Meteorological Services (ICAMS), the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the 

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)’s Subcommittee on Resilience Science and 

Technology (SRST), and the Science for Disaster Reduction (SDR) interagency working group.

● Strengthen NWIRP post-windstorm assessments by supporting federal coordination with 

university-based researchers and leverage disaster reconnaissance data streams to advance 

interactive technology transfer based on the NWIRP TC Coordination Plan for Science and 

Technology. This will enable the identification of high priority applied research questions that are 

unique to the interdisciplinary windstorm disaster reduction field. Additionally, NWIRP postdisaster research guidance will acknowledge and support efficient and effective formal and 

informal collaborations and support investments to recruit and enable a world-class next generation 

of U.S.-based windstorm-relevant researchers. 

● Advance research into identifying needed building code and infrastructure adaptations as the global 

climate continues to warm over the next century. To do this, a connection must be made between 

the characteristics of a warming world resolvable on a global scale to the trends in natural hazards 

on a local scale that more directly affect building and infrastructure performance. Upon this, 

research can inform implementation and then subsequent adoption by local communities. The path 

to this adoption can take significant time and must begin with actionable information that can be 

used on the local scale. Thus, a memorandum of understanding between NOAA, NIST, and the 

ASCE has been signed to convene a series of workshops to identify best practices in utilizing 

climate projection information in community resilience planning and designs of resilient buildings 

and infrastructure. Actions that the workshops identify will likely evolve into broader crossdisciplinary research and development between NOAA, NIST, and ASCE. NWIRP agencies, and 

their collaborators, should be involved to enhance the ability to advance research into mitigating 

adverse outcomes from severe windstorms and associated hazards. Furthermore, these activities 

should be backed by sufficient funding to maximize the probability of success.

● Contribute to building a Weather-Ready Nation by integrating scientific advances in real-time 

impact-based extreme weather event forecasting and delivery, informed by social science and 

engineering, to elicit the appropriate responses by individuals and organizations, in alignment with 

the weather. The development of probabilistic forecasts and warnings should continue to be a high 

priority, along with methods to ensure such information is made available and actionable by 

individuals and organizations. The social science role informs the content of the forecasts and 

warnings to elicit the appropriate response while the engineering informs the process of relating 

the hazard intensity to predict the impacts upon the built environment and infrastructure. NWIRP 

organizations should continue their efforts to improve the suite of options to provide forecast and 

warning information and guidance to take action, including promoting more options for shelters to 

accommodate the diverse portfolio of exposure and vulnerabilities among the public and 

organizations. NWIRP stands ready to support the development of short-term warnings and 

decision support information for wildfire hazards, by providing guidance for predicting wildfire 
31

spread in high winds, fire-generated windstorms, and tornadoes and subsequent impacts.

51,52,53 In 

addition, NWIRP can be leveraged to improve the verification of probabilistic warnings and 

forecasts which then feeds back to supporting warning improvements as well as community 

resilience.

● Support the implementation of recommendations from interagency post-windstorm research and 

development activities to improve hazard measurement science, advancing the Nation towards 

performance-based design, and strengthening the scientific foundation for the development of 

consensus codes and standards. For example, promoting life-safety protection measures for tornado 

impacts in products developed by national and international standards development organizations. 

● NWIRP will ensure that the U.S. non-governmental science and engineering communities are made 

aware of NWIRP-relevant Federal Science and Technology reports, studies, and priority-setting 

documents, while the NWIRP agencies will stay abreast of university-based findings and promising 

new research approaches to strengthen coordination and shared awareness to enable more impactful 

work.

51 https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/wui_fire_report_of_findings_july_24_2019v2_508.pdf

52 https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/wui-issues-resolutions-report.pdf

53 https://www.nwcg.gov/sites/default/files/committee/docs/fenc-satellite-data-task-team-final-report.pdf
32

Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations

AMS American Meteorological Society

AOML

APHEX

Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory

Advancing the Prediction of Hurricanes Experiment

ASCE

CAREER

CESM

American Society of Civil Engineers

Faculty Early Career Development

Community Earth System Model

CFD

CoPe

Computational Fluid Dynamics

Coastlines and People

COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease of 2019

CPC Climate Prediction Center

CPI Consumer Price Index

DAD

DHS

DOD

DOE

Database-Assisted Design

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Defense

Department of Energy

DRRG Disaster Resilience Research Grants

DTC NCAR’s Developmental Testbed Center

EF Enhanced Fujita [Scale]

EMI Emergency Management Institute

EPSCoR Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research

FACETs Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency

FPHLM Florida Public Hurricane Loss Model

FY fiscal year

Hazus Hazards U.S., a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based natural hazard 

analysis tool developed and distributed by FEMA
33

HAFS

HFIP

Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System

Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project

HWT

IBC

ICAMS

Hazardous Weather Testbed

International Building Code

Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services

ICC

IN-CORE

International Code Council

Interdependent Networked Community Resilience Modeling Environment

IUCRC Industry-University Cooperative Research Center

MA Mission Assignment

MAT

MPAS

mph

Mitigation Assessment Team

Model for Prediction Across Scales

miles per hour

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research

NCEP National Center for Environmental Prediction

NCST

NCSTA

NEER

National Construction Safety Team

National Construction Safety Team Act

Nearshore Extreme Events Reconnaissance

NGGPS Next Generation Global Prediction System

NHC National Hurricane Center

NHERI

NICHE

Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure

National Full-Scale Testing Infrastructure for Community Hardening in Extreme 

Wind, Surge, and Wave Events

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NRC U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
34

NSF National Science Foundation

NSSA National Storm Shelter Association

NSSL National Severe Storms Laboratory

NSTC

NWIRA

National Science and Technology Council

National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act

NWIRP National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program

NWS National Weather Service

OAR NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

PAR

PERiLS

PSDA

RAPID

REU

Phased Array Radar

Propagation, Evolution and Rotation in Linear Storms

Post-Storm Data Acquisition

Rapid Response Research

Research Experiences for Undergraduates

R2O Research to Operations

SDR Science for Disaster Reduction

SEI Structural Engineering Institute

SIP Strategic Implementation Plan 

SPC

SRST

Storm Prediction Center

Subcommittee on Resilience Science and Technology

StEER

STEM

SUMMEER

Structural Extreme Events Reconnaissance

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

SUstainable Material Management Extreme Events Reconnaissance

TC

TCs

tropical cyclone

tropical cyclones
35

TIM Threats In Motion

TORUS Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells

UAS Uncrewed Aerial System

UFS Unified Forecast System

U.S.

USGCRP

United States

U.S. Global Change Research Program

USVI U.S. Virgin Islands

VORTEX-SE Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-Southeast

VORTEX-USA Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment-United States of 

America

WHIP-C Wind Hazard and Infrastructure Performance Center

WoF

WoFS

WRF

Warn-on-Forecast

Warn-on-Forecast System

Weather Research and Forecast

WRN

WSE

Weather-Ready Nation

Wind Speed Estimation

WWG Windstorm Working Group
36

Appendix B: NWIRP Strategic Goals, Objectives, and Priorities

Goal A. Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Processes and Hazards

Objective 1: Advance understanding of windstorms and associated hazards

Objective 2: Develop tools to improve windstorm data collection and analysis

Objective 3: Understand long term trends in windstorm frequency, intensity, and location

Objective 4: Develop tools to improve windstorm hazard assessment

Goal B. Improve the Understanding of Windstorm Impacts on Communities

Objective 5: Advance understanding of windstorm effects on the built environment

Objective 6: Develop computational tools for use in wind and flood modeling on buildings and 

infrastructure

Objective 7: Improve understanding of economic and social factors influencing windstorm risk 

reduction measures

Objective 8: Develop tools to improve post-storm impact data collection, analysis, and archival

Objective 9: Develop advanced risk assessment and loss estimation tools

Goal C. Improve the Windstorm Resilience of Communities Nationwide

Objective 10: Develop tools to improve the performance of buildings and other structures in 

windstorms

Objective 11: Support the development of windstorm-resilient standards and building codes

Objective 12: Promote the implementation of windstorm-resilient measures

Objective 13: Improve windstorm forecast accuracy and warning time

Objective 14: Improve storm readiness, emergency communications and response

Strategic Priorities

SP-1: Develop Baseline Estimates of Loss of Life and Property due to Windstorms

SP-2: Obtain Measurements of Surface Winds and Storm Surge Current and Waves in Severe 

Storms

SP-3: Develop Publicly Available Databases of Windstorm Hazards and Impacts

SP-4: Develop Performance-Based Design for Windstorm Hazards

SP-5: Improve Windstorm Resistance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures

SP-6: Enhance Outreach and Partnerships to Improve Windstorm Preparedness and Hazard 

Mitigation

SP-7: Enhance and Promote Effective Storm Sheltering Strategies

SP-8: Develop the Nation’s Human Resource Base in Windstorm Hazard Mitigation Field
37

Appendix C: Detailed NWIRP Agency Activities

NIST

NIST Hurricane Maria Program. On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria had a devastating impact on 

much of Puerto Rico, damaging buildings that its communities relied upon for medical care, safety, 

communications, education, business, and more. In 2018, NIST launched a multi-year effort to study this 

disaster across seven technical projects with the goal of making recommendations to encourage the 

Figure 7. An outline of projects comprising the NIST Hurricane Maria Program

widespread adoption of improved building codes, standards, and practices that would make communities 

in Puerto Rico and across the U.S. more resilient to hurricanes and other hazard events. The NIST Hurricane 

Maria Program is conducted under two authorities, the NCSTA and the NWIRA. Figure 7 shows the 

grouping of the various research projects with the attendant legislative authority. As complementary 

components of the NIST Hurricane Maria Program, the NCST technical investigation and the NWIRP 

research study are closely coordinated, and the foci of the seven projects span all 14 objectives contained 

within the NWIRP Strategic Plan, as indicated on the left side of Figure 7. 

Tornado Load Requirements for Conventional Buildings. Following years of research and development 

on tornado hazards and tornado-structure interaction, NIST engagement with the building standards and 

codes processes resulted in the first-ever probabilistic tornado hazards maps and tornado load methodology 

for tornado-resistant design of buildings being incorporated into the ASCE 7-22 national load standard and 

approved for inclusion in the 2024 IBC. This accomplishment represents a paradigm shift in design for 

windstorms (the only prior mention of tornadoes in the IBC was for design of storm shelters). As these new 

tornado provisions get adopted into state and local building codes, essential facilities (e.g., hospitals, fire 

and police stations) and facilities that represent a substantial hazard to human life (e.g., high occupancy 

buildings, schools, nursing homes) in much of the U.S. can now be designed for tornado loads in addition 

to wind loads from hurricanes, thunderstorms, Nor’easters, and other extreme wind events. The tornado 

load requirements apply to buildings and other structures in the conterminous U.S. east of the Continental 

Divide, where most U.S. tornadoes occur.
38

Design tornado speeds vary from 60 to 138 mph, or approximately EF0-EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, 

depending on geographic location, building function, and plan size and shape of the building or facility. It 

is important to note that these code requirements reflect design for the most common tornadoes, not the 

most intense. Approximately 97% of all tornadoes in the past few decades have been rated EF2 or less. For 

life safety protection from more intense tornadoes, storm shelters and safe rooms should be used. The design 

tornado speed will be less than the design wind speed for most buildings; however, the design loads for 

tornadoes will often be greater than the design wind loads, due to other differences in tornado wind and 

wind-structure interaction characteristics. For example, uplift loads in building roofs will typically increase 

more than loads on other parts of the building, due in part to the strong updrafts in tornadoes that are not 

present in other types of windstorms. In some cases, the tornado loads may be double or more compared to 

wind loads required by the current version of the code. While these large load increases will translate into 

buildings with significantly more capacity to resist wind loads from tornadoes and other storm types, the 

increase in construction costs is expected to be minimal. From a study led by the NIST Office of Applied 

Economics,

54 considering construction cost impacts on archetype elementary and high school buildings, the 

maximum increases were approximately 0.14% of the total construction budget, in cities such as Kansas 

City, Dallas, and Memphis. Locations farther away from the central U.S. had much smaller increases or no 

cost increases at all.

NOAA

Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP). The HFIP was established within NOAA in 2007, 

in response to devastating hurricanes such as Charley in 2004, and Wilma, Katrina, Rita in 2005 to 

accelerate the improvement of forecasts and warnings of TCs and to enhance mitigation and preparedness 

by increasing confidence in those forecasts. One of the key strategies defined in the revised HFIP plan in 

response to the proposed framework for addressing Section 104 of the Weather Research Forecasting 

Innovation Act of 2017, is to advance an operational HAFS at NOAA/NWS. HAFS is a multi-scale model 

and data assimilation package capable of providing analyses and forecasts of the inner core structure of the 

TC out to seven days, which is key to improving size and intensity predictions, as well as the large-scale 

environment that is known to influence the TC's motion. HAFS will provide an operational analysis and 

forecast system out to seven days for hurricane forecasters with reliable, robust and skillful guidance on TC 

track and intensity, storm size, genesis, storm surge, rainfall and tornadoes associated with TCs. It will 

provide an advanced analysis and forecast system for cutting-edge research on modeling, physics, data 

assimilation, and coupling to earth system components for high-resolution TC predictions within the 

outlined Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS)/Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) 

objectives of the UFS. 

One of the major accomplishments of the 2020 hurricane season was the advancement and real-time testing 

of four basic configurations of FV3-based, NOAA’s next-generation HAFS including three regional 

configurations (including an 11 member-ensemble) and one global nested configuration. Led jointly by 

developers at the NWS/National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and NOAA’s Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Research (OAR)/AOML and supported by the NCAR/Developmental Testbed Center (DTC), 

these efforts will efficiently and effectively transition the latest advances to operations for hurricane models 

in 2021 and serve as prime examples of successful community-driven Research to Operations (R2O) efforts 

54Economic Analysis of ASCE 7-22 Tornado Load Requirements. NIST TN 2214. March 2022. 

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2214
39

for the broader UFS community. More information on HFIP and HAFS real-time experimental products 

can be found at the HFIP website: http://hfip.org/.

Warn-on-Forecast (WoF). WoF is a NOAA research project tasked to increase tornado, severe 

thunderstorm, and flash flood warning lead times by connecting high spatial and temporal resolution model 

output with confidence levels from warning forecasters. Increasing the lead time and accuracy for hazardous 

weather and water warnings and forecasts, in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and damage to the economy, 

is one of the strategic goals of NOAA. Trends in yearly-averaged tornado warning lead times suggest that 

the present weather warning process, largely based upon a warn-on-detection approach using NWS Doppler 

radars, is reaching a plateau and further increases in lead time will be difficult to obtain. A more updated 

approach whereby model output and the observational network are used together to effectively extend lead 

times on hazardous weather events. This will involve probabilistic hazard guidance provided by an 

ensemble of forecasts from convection-allowing numerical weather prediction models.

Researchers at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory are developing the Warn-on-Forecast System 

(WoFS) to improve forecasts, warnings, and decision support for high-impact thunderstorm events within 

the watch-to-warning time frame, 0-6 hours in advance of an event. WoF is designed to provide accurate 

predictions and warnings of thunderstorm hazards—like tornadoes, hail, wind, and flash flooding—with 

more lead-time than is currently possible with detection-based warning techniques. The fundamental 

concept of WoFS is to provide continuous, probabilistic predictions of hazards in individual thunderstorms. 

WoFS is an important component of Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats (FACETs). 

FACETs aims to provide continuous probabilistic hazard information guidance to the public from time 

frames of multiple weeks up through less than one hour prior to a given event. NOAA is using social and 

behavioral science to evaluate this probabilistic hazard information and how to best communicate this 

information to the public.

In addition to real-time demonstrations, WoFS guidance has been tested by forecasters and researchers 

within NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT), the annual Spring Forecasting Experiment and within 

the Hydrometeorological Testbed. WoFS was presented to emergency managers within the HWT in 2019 

and again in 2022. The feedback provided by participants guides subsequent improvements to WoFS as 

NOAA NSSL collaborates with partners to reduce the billions in economic impacts from severe storms and 

flash floods. More information can be found at https://www.nssl.noaa.gov/projects/wof/.

NSF

NSF Overview of NHERI. The NSF- supported NHERI is a multi-hazards research community focused 

on mitigating the impact of earthquakes, windstorms, tsunamis, storm surge and other water-related hazards 

on our nation's civil infrastructure and society. NHERI enables research and educational advances that can 

contribute knowledge and innovation for the nation's civil infrastructure and communities to prevent natural 

hazard events from becoming societal disasters. NHERI also supports NSF's core value to broaden 

opportunities and expand participation of groups, institutions, and geographic regions that are 

underrepresented in STEM. Grand challenge research that can be conducted using NHERI resources is 

described in the NHERI Science Plan https://www.designsafe-ci.org/facilities/nco/science-plan/. Findings 

from research using NHERI resources during FYs 2021-2022 can be found in the State of Technology 

Transfer in the Natural Hazards Infrastructure Research: 2021 Annual Report (https://www.designsafe-
40

ci.org/data/browser/public/designsafe.storage.published/PRJ-3332) and 2022 (https://www.designsafeci.org/data/browser/public/designsafe.storage.published/PRJ-3469).

NSF NHERI Awards as of FY 2022. 

Facility Institution NSF Award Number

Network Coordination Office (NCO) Purdue University 2129782

Cyberinfrastructure (CI) University of Texas at Austin 2022469

Computational Modeling & Simulation Center 

(SimCenter)

University of California -

Berkeley

2131111

Experimental Facility (RAPID Facility) University of Washington 2130997

Experimental Facility (Wave Flume & Wave 

Basin)

Oregon State University 2037914

Experimental Facility (Geotechnical 

Centrifuges)

University of California - Davis 2037883

Experimental Facility (Hybrid Simulation) Lehigh University 2037771

Experimental Facility (Mobile Field Shakers) University of Texas at Austin 2037900

Experimental Facility (Wind Tunnel) University of Florida 2037725

Experimental Facility (Wall of Wind) Florida International University 2037899

Experimental Facility (Large Outdoor Shake 

Table)

University of California-San 

Diego

2227407

NHERI Resource: CONVERGE - Coordinated 

Social Science, Engineering, and 

Interdisciplinary Extreme Events 

Reconnaissance Research

University of Colorado-Boulder 1841338

NHERI Decadal Visioning for FYs 2026-2035 Nexight Group LLC 2227014

Mid-scale RI-1 (M1:DP): National Full-Scale 

Testing Infrastructure for Community 

Hardening in Extreme Wind, Surge, and Wave 

Events (NICHE)

Florida International University 2131961
41

NSF Multi-year Research Projects as of FYs 2021-2022 (Geoscience).

Research Projects Institution NSF Award Number

Storm-environment interactions controlling 

the probability of supercell tornadogenesis

North Carolina State 

University

2130936

Identifying the Physical Drivers and Radar 

Signatures of Fire-Generated Tornadic 

Vortices

University of Nevada - Reno 2114251

Combining Self-organized Maps and 

Idealized Storm-scale Simulations to 

Investigate the Effect of Future Climate 

Change on Severe Convective Storms

Purdue University; University 

of Washington

2209052; 2209699

Detection and Estimation of Multi-Scale 

Complex Spatiotemporal Processes in 

Tornadic Supercells from High Resolution 

Simulations and Multiparameter Radar

University of Wisconsin; 

University of Oklahoma; 

University of California – San 

Diego

2114757; 2114817; 2114860

EAGER: Progressive Derecho Initiation and 

Propagation in Specific Physical Corridors 

as Determined by Mesoscale D-PSI Vectors

Desert Research Institute 2231695

On the Intensity and Size Relationship of 

Tropical Cyclones

Florida State University; 

University of Maryland

2202875; 2202766

Improving Our Understanding of Supercells 

from Convection Initiation to 

Tornadogenesis via Innovative Observations, 

Simulations, and Analysis Techniques

Pennsylvania State 

University; University of 

Oklahoma

2150792; 2150793

The Vorticity Dynamics of Tornadoes: 

Formation and Maintenance Mechanisms

Texas Tech University 2152537
42

Continued Fundamental Studies on 

Secondary Eyewall Formation, Contraction 

and Dissipation

Naval Postgraduate School 2201246

Mechanisms and Variability of Tropical 

Cyclone Formation under the UpperTropospheric Influence

University of Illinois 2116804

Understanding the Turbulent Dynamics of 

Convective Bursts and Tropical Cyclone 

Intensification Using Large Eddy 

Simulations and High-Order Numerics

University of Maryland 

Baltimore County; New 

Jersey Institute of Technology

2121366; 2121367

RAPID: Multi-Scale Investigation into the 

Storm Processes of the 10 August 2020 

Midwest Derecho

University of Oklahoma; 

University of NebraskaLincoln; University of Illinois

2054677; 2054688;

2054706

RAPID: Dual-Doppler Analysis of the 

Boundary Layer in Category-4 Hurricane 

Laura

University of Illinois 2112980

RAPID: The Influence of Terrain on 

Tornado Characteristics Following the 10-11 

December 2021 Tornado Outbreak

University of NebraskaLincoln; University of 

Georgia; University of 

Illinois; University of North 

Carolina at Asheville

2221974; 2221975;

2221976; 2221977

Convective Upscale Growth Processes during 

RELAMPAGO

University of Wisconsin; 

Colorado State University; 

University of Washington

2146708; 2146709;

2146710

EAGER: Observing Extreme Fire Behavior 

in Canyons

San Jose State University 2230778
43

CAREER: Role of Canopy Turbulence in 

Wildland Fire Behavior

University of California -

Irvine

2146520

Propagation, Evolution and Rotation in 

Linear Storms (PERiLS)

University of Illinois; North 

Carolina State University

2020462; 2020588

Rapid-scan Polarimetric Radar Data 

Collection and Analysis of the Wind Field in 

Severe Convective Storms and Tornadoes

University of Oklahoma 2214926

Downshear Reformation of Tropical 

Cyclones

State University of New York 

- Albany

2225604

Understanding Downdrafts in Deep 

Convection

Pennsylvania State 

University; Texas A&M 

University; Columbia 

University

2149353; 2149354;

2149355
44

Appendix D: NWIRP Coordinated Budget

The NWIRA Reauthorization of 2015 (Public Law 114-52) requires submission of a coordinated NWIRP 

budget to Congress each FY within 60 days after the date of the President’s budget 

submission.55 Descriptions of the planned activities for each of the four Program agencies (NIST, NSF, 

NOAA, and FEMA) are provided below, and the associated budgets are listed in the table at the end of this 

report. 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NIST was designated as the Lead Agency for NWIRP through the enactment of Public Law 114-52 on 

September 30, 2015. As such, NIST’s responsibilities include planning and coordination as well as 

technical activities. 

Lead agency activities include the following:

● Plan and coordinate NWIRP, in cooperation with other federal agencies and the broader stakeholder 

community; and 

● Coordinate all federal post-windstorm investigations, to the extent practicable. 

Planned technical activities include the following:

● Continue efforts on the NIST Technical Investigation of the effects of Hurricane Maria on the U.S. 

territory of Puerto Rico. The goals of the investigation are to characterize: (1) the wind environment 

and technical conditions associated with deaths and injuries; (2) the performance of representative 

critical buildings, and designated safe areas in those buildings, including their dependence on 

lifelines; and (3) the performance of emergency communications systems and the public’s response 

to such communications;

● Continue development of performance-based design approaches for wind hazards;

● Develop computational wind engineering capability for simulating turbulent atmospheric boundary 

layer flow and the resulting wind pressures on buildings;

● Develop tornado resistant designs for risk category II buildings;

● Subject to the availability of funds, solicit grant proposals for research aimed to improve resilience 

of buildings and infrastructure against windstorm hazards, including storm surge; and

● Continue technology transfer, translating windstorm impact reduction research to practice through 

participation in codes and standards development processes.

National Science Foundation 

NSF will support research in engineering and the atmospheric sciences to improve the understanding of the 

behavior of windstorms and their impact on buildings, structures, and lifelines; and research in the economic 

and social factors influencing windstorm risk reduction measures.

55 42 U.S.C. § 15703(e)(7).
45

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NOAA activities fall under two categories: hurricane-related and local severe weather activities. 

Planned hurricane-related activities include the following:

● Continue the HFIP;

● Operate the NHC/Joint Hurricane Testbed; and 

● Operate the AOML Hurricane Research Division. 

Planned local severe weather activities include the following:

● Operate the Storm Prediction Center, including Hazardous Weather Testbed;

● WoF development;

● Operate the National Severe Storms Laboratory Tornado and Severe Weather Research; and 

● Research and deliver technologies developed by the Global System Laboratory that include the 

High-Resolution Rapid Refresh forecasts, Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System 

Hazard Services, renewable energy, and aviation tools and products.

Federal Emergency Management Agency 

FEMA leverages available resources as appropriate to support NWIRP goals and objectives. An estimate 

of the leveraged resources is provided in the budget table. A high-level summary of the wind related 

activities that FEMA’s Building Science Branch and Earthquake and Winds Programs Branch has or will 

be pursuing includes post-windstorm related data collection and analysis; development of risk assessment 

tools and guidance for effective mitigation; integration of mitigation measures into consensus codes and 

standards; and public outreach, training, and information dissemination consistent with the agency’s allhazards approach.

National Windstorm Impact

Reduction Program (NWIRP)

FY 2021

Actuals ($K)

FY 2022

Actuals ($K)

FY 2023 

Enacted ($K)

NIST 1 5,320 5,320 5,481

NOAA 2 17,992 17,371 16,995

NSF 3 41,181 83,010 9,682

FEMA 4 450 600 0

Total 64,943 106,301 32,158

1) NIST FY 2021 actuals and FY 2022 actuals reflect allocation to support the Hurricane Maria Investigation.

2) NOAA totals are not reflective of hurricane supplemental funds.

3) NSF has no dedicated NWIRP activities with its own solicitation. Funding levels beyond the amounts authorized in the NWIRA 

Reauthorization of 2015 are calculated and reported only after each fiscal year’s NWIRP-relevant awards across the Foundation 

are completed.

4) Due to the ad-hoc nature of how FEMA supports NWIRP activities, a presumed amount is not included in FY 2023, although in 

prior years FEMA has been able to fund some level of activity by leveraging other resources.