IIB 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2413 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
APRIL 2, 2014 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To prioritize and redirect NOAA resources to a focused 
program of investment on affordable and attainable ad-
vances in observational, computing, and modeling capa-
bilities to deliver substantial improvement in weather 
forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events, 
such as those associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, 
droughts, floods, storm surges, and wildfires, and for 
other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Weather Forecasting 
Improvement Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITY. 
In accordance with NOAA’s critical mission to pro-
vide science, service, and stewardship, the Under Sec-
retary shall prioritize weather-related activities, including 
the provision of improved weather data, forecasts, and 
warnings for the protection of life and property and the 
enhancement of the national economy, in all relevant line 
offices. 
SEC. 3. WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVA-
TION. 
(a) PROGRAM.—The Assistant Administrator for 
OAR shall conduct a program to develop improved under-
standing of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric 
events and their impacts, placing priority on developing 
more accurate, timely, and effective warnings and fore- 
casts of high impact weather events that endanger life and 
property. 
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program described 
in subsection (a) shall focus on the following activities: 
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(1) Improving the fundamental understanding 
of weather consistent with section 2, including the 
boundary layer and other atmospheric processes af-
fecting high impact weather events. 
(2) Improving the understanding of how the 
public receives, interprets, and responds to warnings 
and forecasts of high impact weather events that en-
danger life and property. 
(3) Research and development, and transfer of 
knowledge, technologies, and applications to the 
NWS and other appropriate agencies and entities, 
including the American weather industry and aca-
demic partners, related to— 
(A) advanced radar, radar networking 
technologies, and other ground-based tech-
nologies, including those emphasizing rapid, 
fine-scale sensing of the boundary layer and 
lower troposphere, and the use of innovative, 
dual-polarization, phased array technologies; 
(B) aerial weather observing systems; 
(C) high performance computing and infor-
mation technology and wireless communication 
networks; 
(D) advanced numerical weather prediction 
systems and forecasting tools and techniques 
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that improve the forecasting of timing, track, 
intensity, and severity of high impact weather, 
including through— 
(i) the development of more effective 
mesoscale models; 
(ii) more effective use of existing, and 
the development of new, regional and na-
tional cloud-resolving models; 
(iii) enhanced global weather models; 
and 
(iv) integrated assessment models; 
(E) quantitative assessment tools for meas-
uring the impact and value of data and observ-
ing systems, including OSSEs (as described in 
section 8), OSEs, and AOAs; 
(F) atmospheric chemistry and interactions 
essential to accurately characterizing atmos-
pheric composition and predicting meteorolog-
ical processes, including cloud microphysical, 
precipitation, and atmospheric electrification 
processes, to more effectively understand their 
role in severe weather; and 
(G) additional sources of weather data and 
information, including commercial observing 
systems. 
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(4) A technology transfer initiative, carried out 
jointly and in coordination with the Assistant Ad-
ministrator for NWS, and in cooperation with the 
American weather industry and academic partners, 
to ensure continuous development and transition of 
the latest scientific and technological advances into 
NWS operations and to establish a process to sunset 
outdated and expensive operational methods and 
tools to enable cost-effective transfer of new methods 
and tools into operations. 
(c) EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 
under this section, the Assistant Administrator for 
OAR shall collaborate with and support the non- 
Federal weather research community, which includes 
institutions of higher education, private entities, and 
nongovernmental organizations, by making funds 
available through competitive grants, contracts, and 
cooperative agreements. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that not less than 30 percent of the funds 
authorized for research and development at OAR by 
this Act should be made available for this purpose. 
(d) REPORT.—The Under Secretary shall transmit to 
Congress annually, concurrently with NOAA’s budget re-
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quest, a description of current and planned activities 
under this section. 
SEC. 4. TORNADO WARNING IMPROVEMENT AND EXTEN-
SION PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with the American weather industry and academic 
partners, shall establish a tornado warning improvement 
and extension program. 
(b) GOAL.—The goal of such program shall be to re-
duce the loss of life and economic losses from tornadoes 
through the development and extension of accurate, effec-
tive, and timely tornado forecasts, predictions, and warn-
ings, including the prediction of tornadoes beyond one 
hour in advance. 
(c) PROGRAM PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Adminis-
trator for OAR, in consultation with the Assistant Admin-
istrator for NWS, shall develop a program plan that de-
tails the specific research, development, and technology 
transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources and 
timelines, necessary to achieve the program goal. 
(d) BUDGET FOR PLAN.—Following completion of 
the plan, the Assistant Administrator for OAR, in con-
sultation with the Assistant Administrator for NWS, shall 
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transmit annually to Congress a proposed budget cor-
responding to the activities identified in the plan. 
SEC. 5. HURRICANE WARNING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with the American weather industry and academic 
partners, shall establish a hurricane warning improvement 
program. 
(b) GOAL.—The goal of such program shall be to de-
velop and extend accurate hurricane forecasts and warn-
ings in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and damage 
to the economy. 
(c) PROGRAM PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Adminis-
trator for OAR, in consultation with the Assistant Admin-
istrator for NWS, shall develop a program plan that de-
tails the specific research, development, and technology 
transfer activities, as well as corresponding resources and 
timelines, necessary to achieve the program goal. 
(d) BUDGET FOR PLAN.—Following completion of 
the plan, the Assistant Administrator for OAR, in con-
sultation with the Assistant Administrator for NWS, shall 
transmit annually to Congress a proposed budget cor-
responding to the activities identified in the plan. 
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SEC. 6. WEATHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN-
NING. 
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Admin-
istrator for OAR, in coordination with the Assistant Ad-
ministrators for NWS and NESDIS, shall issue a research 
and development plan to restore and maintain United 
States leadership in numerical weather prediction and 
forecasting that— 
(1) describes the forecasting skill and tech-
nology goals, objectives, and progress of NOAA in 
carrying out the program conducted under section 3; 
(2) identifies and prioritizes specific research 
and development activities, and performance metrics, 
weighted to meet the operational weather mission of 
NWS; 
(3) describes how the program will collaborate 
with stakeholders, including the American weather 
industry and academic partners; and 
(4) identifies, through consultation with the Na-
tional Science Foundation, American weather indus-
try, and academic partners, research necessary to 
enhance the integration of social science knowledge 
into weather forecast and warning processes, includ-
ing to improve the communication of threat informa-
tion necessary to enable improved severe weather 
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planning and decisionmaking on the part of individ-
uals and communities. 
SEC. 7. OBSERVING SYSTEM PLANNING. 
The Under Secretary shall— 
(1) develop and maintain a prioritized list of 
observation data requirements necessary to ensure 
weather forecasting capabilities to protect life and 
property to the maximum extent practicable; 
(2) undertake, using OSSEs, OSEs, AOAs, and 
other appropriate assessment tools, ongoing system-
atic evaluations of the combination of observing sys-
tems, data, and information needed to meet the re-
quirements listed under paragraph (1), assessing 
various options to maximize observational capabili-
ties and their cost-effectiveness; 
(3) identify current and potential future data 
gaps in observing capabilities related to the require-
ments listed under paragraph (1); and 
(4) determine a range of options to address 
gaps identified under paragraph (3). 
SEC. 8. OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In support of the requirements of 
section 7, the Assistant Administrator for OAR shall un-
dertake OSSEs to quantitatively assess the relative value 
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and benefits of observing capabilities and systems. Tech-
nical and scientific OSSE evaluations— 
(1) may include assessments of the impact of 
observing capabilities on— 
(A) global weather prediction; 
(B) hurricane track and intensity fore-
casting; 
(C) tornado warning lead times and accu-
racy; 
(D) prediction of mid-latitude severe local 
storm outbreaks; and 
(E) prediction of storms that have the po-
tential to cause extreme precipitation and flood-
ing lasting from 6 hours to 1 week; and 
(2) shall be conducted in cooperation with other 
appropriate entities within NOAA, other Federal 
agencies, the American weather industry, and aca-
demic partners to ensure the technical and scientific 
merit of OSSE results. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—OSSEs shall quantitatively— 
(1) determine the potential impact of proposed 
space-based, suborbital, and in situ observing sys-
tems on analyses and forecasts, including potential 
impacts on extreme weather events across all parts 
of the Nation; 
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