S. 322 — Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act

This section establishes an atmospheric river forecast improvement program under the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, in collaboration with the weather enterprise and institutions of higher education, to reduce loss of life, property damage, and economic losses from atmospheric rivers (i.e., narrow corridors of concentrated water vapor in the atmosphere that produce heavy precipitation, flooding, and other impacts, primarily on the U.S. West Coast). The program requires (1) developing quantitative forecast skill metrics incorporating dynamical modeling, data assimilation, and machine learning; (2) creating an atmospheric river forecast system within a unified forecast system for seasonal to short-range predictions, including snow and hydrologic components; (3) advancing understanding of atmospheric rivers' roles in subseasonal-to-seasonal precipitation; (4) developing tools and products to predict active or inactive atmospheric river periods, tailored to stakeholder needs; (5) enhancing research-to-operations transitions via NOAA testbeds; and (6) incorporating social, behavioral, risk, communication, and economic sciences, including voluntary data collection on hazardous weather events. The program further directs periodic evaluation of innovative observations (e.g., radar, aircraft, satellites, ocean buoys, soil moisture); improved precipitation modeling for complex terrain to aid water management and resilience to floods and drought, including prototype high-resolution models, enhanced data assimilation, artificial intelligence, and baseline weather monitoring; and acquisition of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, equipment, and personnel for annual atmospheric river reconnaissance from November 1 through March 31, with data made available for research and operations, guided by partnerships, and managed per CARE and FAIR principles and relevant federal laws.