[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 19 (Wednesday, January 29, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S484-S485]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Ms. Murkowski):
  S. 322. A bill to improve the lead time, accuracy, and dissemination 
of forecasts of atmospheric rivers throughout the United States, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan 
Improving Atmospheric River Forecasts Act. This bill would require the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish a new 
program to improve prediction of these important storm systems.
  This bill would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration to establish a new program within the National Weather 
Service to improve atmospheric river forecasts. This includes better 
data acquisition, like new radar systems that can track the heart of 
atmospheric rivers hours before storms hit. It also includes 
implementing a quantitative scale for events on a scale of 1 to 5 to 
better inform emergency managers and the public about the severity of 
incoming AR events. The bill also requires the Agency to report back to 
Congress on the plans for the program and anticipated costs.
  As Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Marty Ralph said, 
``Atmospheric rivers are the hurricanes of the west coast.'' Why then 
are we not treating them with the same attention in forecasting? Like 
the National Hurricane Center in Florida, the West Coast needs a 
central hub for atmospheric river data acquisition, modeling, 
prediction, and dissemination.
  This bill will take a pivotal first step in bringing atmospheric 
rivers to the same forecasting sophistication as hurricanes by 
establishing a new program

[[Page S485]]

at NOAA to coordinate these efforts and create accurate, effective, and 
actionable predictions to minimize loss of life and property.
  These steps are especially necessary under a changing climate. As 
temperatures increase, water bands in atmospheric rivers widen and 
storms increase in duration. By 2090, NOAA predicts that atmospheric 
river caused flood damages may increase to between $2.3 and $3.2 
billion in annual impact.
  I want to thank Senator Murkowski for introducing this important 
legislation with me in the Senate. I hope all of our colleagues will 
join us in supporting this bipartisan bill to improve our Nation's 
resilience to atmospheric river events.

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