I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4302 
To accelerate subseasonal to seasonal prediction skills related to precipitation 
forecasts for water management in the western United States, improve 
atmospheric river forecasts across the country, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 7, 2025 
Mr. OBERNOLTE (for himself, Mr. FONG, and Mr. WHITESIDES) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology 
A BILL 
To accelerate subseasonal to seasonal prediction skills related 
to precipitation forecasts for water management in the 
western United States, improve atmospheric river fore-
casts across the country, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Atmos-
pheric River Forecasts Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUBSEASONAL TO SEASONAL FORECASTING PILOT 
PROJECTS. 
(a) IMPROVING SUBSEASONAL AND SEASONAL FORE-
CASTS.—Subsection (h) of section 1762 of the Food Secu-
rity Act of 1985 (15 U.S.C. 8521) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(h) SUBSEASONAL
TO SEASONAL FORECASTING 
PILOT PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary 
shall establish at least one pilot project within the 
U.S. Weather Research Program of the Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Research office of the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration to support im-
proved subseasonal to seasonal precipitation fore-
casts for water management in the western United 
States. 
‘‘(2) OBJECTIVES.—In carrying out this sub-
section, the Under Secretary shall ensure that a 
pilot project under paragraph (1) addresses key 
science challenges to improving forecasts and devel-
oping related products described in subsection (c) 
for water management in the western United States, 
including the following: 
‘‘(A) Improving model resolution, both hor-
izontal and vertical, to resolve issues associated 
with mountainous terrain, such as intensity of 
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precipitation and relative fraction of rain versus 
snow precipitation. 
‘‘(B) Improving fidelity in modeling of— 
‘‘(i) the atmospheric boundary layer in 
mountainous regions; and 
‘‘(ii) atmospheric rivers. 
‘‘(C) Resolving challenges in predicting 
winter 
atmospheric 
circulation 
and 
storm 
tracks, including periods of blocked versus 
unblocked flow over the eastern North Pacific 
Ocean and western United States. 
‘‘(D) Advancing scientific understanding of 
the roles of atmospheric rivers in subseasonal to 
seasonal precipitation, and developing tools to 
predict periods of active or inactive atmospheric 
river landfalls and inland penetration over the 
western United States. 
‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES.—A pilot project under this 
subsection shall be carried out in coordination with 
the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Research and the Director of 
the National Weather Service and include activities 
that carry out the following: 
‘‘(A) Best implement recommendations of 
the National Weather Service’s 2019 Report, 
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entitled ‘Subseasonal and Seasonal Forecasting 
Innovation: Plans for the Twenty-First Cen-
tury’. 
‘‘(B) Achieve measurable objectives for 
operational forecast improvement. 
‘‘(C) Engage with, and leverage the re-
sources of, institutions of higher education (as 
such term is defined in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) 
with experience in western precipitation science, 
as well as entities within the National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration in existence as 
of the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
including the Western Regional Climate Center 
and the National Centers for Environmental In-
formation. 
‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
From amounts made available to Operations, Re-
search, and Facilities at the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, there is authorized to 
be appropriated $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2026 through 2030 to carry out this subsection. 
‘‘(5) SUNSET.—The authority under this sub-
section shall terminate on the date that is five years 
after the date of the enactment of this subsection.’’. 
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SEC. 3. ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS FORECAST IMPROVEMENT 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with the United States weather industry and aca-
demic partners, shall establish an atmospheric river fore-
cast improvement program (in this section referred to as 
the ‘‘program’’). 
(b) GOAL.—The goal of the program shall be to re-
duce the loss of life and property and economic losses from 
atmospheric rivers through the research, development, and 
extension of accurate, effective, and actionable forecasts 
and warnings, including by carrying out the following: 
(1) Establishing atmospheric river forecast skill 
metrics that include assessing the benefits of dynam-
ical modeling, data assimilation, and machine learn-
ing improvements in the probabilistic forecasts of 
landfall location, extreme wind and precipitation, 
and cascading impacts. 
(2) Developing an atmospheric river forecast 
system within a unified forecast system, and advanc-
ing next-generation coupled modeling systems, with 
the capability of providing seasonal to short-range 
atmospheric river forecasts that include forecast of 
snow accumulation and other hydrologic compo-
nents. 
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