PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 88.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 27, 2025
Tornado Observations Research and Notification Assessment for Development of Operations Act or the TORNADO Act
This bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to evaluate and improve its communications about hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, and other hazardous weather events.
Specifically, NOAA must establish a Risk Communication Office to evaluate the effectiveness of NOAA's communications and to identify ways to provide simpler and clearer information to the public about hazardous weather events. NOAA must also (1) establish a research program to modernize its communication systems, and (2) establish a pilot program to implement the research with respect to communications about tornadoes.
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Additionally, the bill requires NOAA to develop a strategic plan for implementing the Warn-on-Forecast System, which aims to provide more advanced warnings of thunderstorm-related events (e.g., tornadoes). The bill also requires NOAA to evaluate its tornado rating system and to conduct post-storm assessments of significant events.
The bill also provides statutory authority for NOAA's Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (known as VORTEX-USA), a collaborative project between meteorologists and social scientists to study the conditions that contribute to dangerous tornadoes in the Southeast and the best ways to communicate these events to the public.
Finally, the Government Accountability Office must report on the National Weather Service's communication technology, particularly with respect to timely notices of hazardous weather events.
People & committees
Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] · R–MS
Legislative record
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 88.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. With written report No. 119-26.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Reported by Senator Cruz with amendments. With written report No. 119-26.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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