Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act

The Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act directs collaboration between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to advance numerical weather and climate prediction in the United States. The bill focuses on boosting computing capabilities—through high-performance computing, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and potentially quantum computing—to improve weather forecasts, hazard prediction, and climate modeling. It envisions establishing centers of excellence, public-private partnerships, and multi-year contracts to support research, development, and deployment of next-generation computing for NOAA missions. A key oversight and planning component requires a two-year report evaluating the value and feasibility of high-resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather and the needed computing resources and timelines for implementation. Separately, the bill mandates a 10-year strategic plan for NOAA’s high-performance computing and data management, with public input and annual congressional briefings through 2030. The plan covers resource needs, cloud and emerging technologies, workforce development, and lifecycle management of facilities and infrastructure.