S 258 · 119th Congress · Science, Technology, Communications
TORNADO Act
Bill Progress
✓
Introduced2
Committee3
Senate Vote4
House5
EnactedLatest: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 88.(2025-06-02)
Plain Language Summary
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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. 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 VORT…
Summarized by Claude AI · Non-partisan · For informational purposes only
CBO Cost Estimate
Congressional Budget OfficeS. 258, TORNADO Act
Mar 17, 2025As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on February 5, 2025
Full CBO report ↗Official non-partisan budget analysis by the Congressional Budget Office