On November 10, 2026, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed S. 3923, the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026, according to a Senate Commerce Committee release. The bill reauthorizes NOAA weather forecasting and hazard communication programs and now awaits House action; it has not been enacted.
What happened and who led it
The Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), announced that the chamber approved the bill unanimously in a release titled “Senate Unanimously Approves Bipartisan, Bicameral Comprehensive Weather Forecasting Bill.” Cruz and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) led the legislation, which has bipartisan cosponsors including Sens. Dan Sullivan, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Jerry Moran and Brian Schatz. The release says the bill bundles more than a dozen bipartisan bills. The Senate Commerce Committee had earlier approved the package unanimously on March 4, 2026, per Insurance Business reporting.
What the bill authorizes for NOAA weather research
According to the Senate release, the bill reauthorizes multiple NOAA programs and targets better forecasts for floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires, landslides and atmospheric rivers. It also covers radar network modernization, public warnings (including NOAA Weather Radio), coastal marine fog forecasting and long-range outlooks for agriculture and water managers. It includes Sen. Jerry Moran’s FORECAST Act, which is meant to keep National Weather Service offices staffed around the clock.
Eos, reporting on the committee stage in March 2026, listed changes that matter directly to research groups:
- Updating or expanding the Tsunami Forecasting and Warning Program, the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project and the Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Program.
- Establishing an atmospheric river forecast improvement program.
- Creating a project to improve marine fog forecasts.
- Establishing an official Fire Weather Services Program within NOAA.
- Improving drought monitoring capability and advancing the accuracy of space weather forecasting.
The Senate release does not state dollar amounts or fiscal years. For the committee-stage version, the American Institute of Physics, as cited by Insurance Business, put the authorization at $100 million annually through 2030 for NOAA’s commercial data program and $160 million to $170 million a year for NOAA’s weather research office. Those figures describe the earlier version; check the enrolled text before relying on them.
What still has to happen
The release says the House is expected to take up the bill and send it to the President before the end of the 119th Congress; House Science Committee Chairman Brian Babin is quoted supporting reliable forecasts and timely warnings. That is an expectation stated by the bill’s sponsors, not a scheduled vote. As of March 2026, Insurance Business reported that the House companion, H.R. 5089, had cleared the House Science Committee but not reached the floor.
An authorization sets program structure and recommended funding ceilings; it does not itself provide money. Actual funding still depends on annual appropriations. For how that process shapes award timing, see how NSF’s budget and appropriations process affects grant award timing.
What it means for atmospheric research groups and research offices
This is editorial interpretation based on the program list above, not a claim made by the sources. Groups working on hurricane, tornado, atmospheric river, fire weather, marine fog or drought forecasting would be the natural audience for any resulting NOAA research programs, and nothing opens until the bill is enacted and funded. Research offices tracking federal agency portfolios can compare NOAA’s position with other agencies in the DoD research funding landscape guide. Teams that depend on NOAA data should note that the bill expands commercial data purchases, per reporting; the existing public archive is described in the NOAA NCEI data access guide. Groups building on forecast models may also want the GraphCast and data sharing policy guides.
Context from Insurance Business: NOAA has lost about 20% of its workforce since early 2025, and Congress’s appropriators rejected the administration’s FY2026 proposal to eliminate funding for NOAA’s climate, weather and ocean laboratories. Authorization alone does not reverse staffing or budget outcomes.
Sources
- Senate Commerce Committee: Senate Unanimously Approves Bipartisan, Bicameral Comprehensive Weather Forecasting Bill (November 10, 2026)
- Eos: Senate Committee Approves Bill to Expand NOAA Capabilities (March 2026)
- Insurance Business: Insurers rally behind weather research bill amid deep NOAA cuts (March 6, 2026)
- Congress.gov: S.3923, 119th Congress
