WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican Senators Todd Young and Roger Wicker reintroduced the Tornado Observation Research Notification and Deployment to Operations (TORNADO) Act to improve the forecasting and understanding of tornadoes and other hazardous weather.
The TORNADO Act would require the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to update its methods for predicting and communicating weather alerts to residents.
Senator Young hopes the legislation would help warn Americans about impending storms sooner and help keep people safer.
“In recent months, severe weather has tragically taken the lives of Hoosiers and devastated several Indiana communities,” said Senator Todd Young. “While we can’t prevent these storms from occurring, the TORNADO Act would improve severe weather forecasting, notifying the public faster and allowing Hoosier to find safety more quickly.”
The TORNADO Act would also:
- Require NOAA to prepare and submit an action plan for the national implementation of high-resolution probabilistic guidance for tornado forecasting and prediction.
- Encourage NOAA to evaluate the current tornado rating system and make updates.
- Mandate NOAA to coordinate with appropriate entities when conducting post-storm assessments to optimize data collection, sharing, and integration.
You can read the full bill text here.
