Protecting Coasts and Cities from Severe Weather Act
The Protecting Coasts and Cities from Severe Weather Act would create and fund a dedicated program within the federal weather enterprise to improve coastal flood and storm surge forecasts. Led by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (i.e., NOAA), the program would collaborate with the weather industry and academic partners to deliver more accurate, actionable, and probabilistic forecasts and warnings for coastal flooding (including high tide events) and storm surge. Key aims include better real-time prediction of the ocean’s role in flooding, increasing coastal resilience through better forecasts and decision support, incorporating data from distributed sensors, and developing probabilistic (risk-informed) estimates to aid long-term planning. The bill also requires a plan within 180 days and annual budget proposals to Congress. Separately, the bill addresses weather observation gaps in highly vulnerable areas. NOAA would identify under-observed regions, determine challenges to observation coverage, expand observations (including urban heat island mapping), deploy testbeds for decision-support tools at emergency operations centers, and promote workforce development and climate modeling improvements in those regions. It also authorizes interagency pilots (with NWS and FEMA) to accelerate the use of localized data in infrastructure and emergency management decisions, with at least one pilot focusing on mesonet data and critical infrastructure like dams, power facilities, nuclear plants, and transportation networks.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of a Coastal Flooding and Storm Surge Forecast Improvement Program within NOAA, in collaboration with the weather industry and academia, to reduce loss of life and property through better forecasts and warnings.
- 2Priority activities include real-time prediction of the ocean’s role in coastal flooding, improving mitigation/adaptation capacity, integrating data from in situ sensors, and developing probabilistic coastal flooding and storm surge estimates for planning and risk management.
- 3Development of performance metrics to measure benefits from improved modeling, data assimilation, and machine learning in coastal forecast accuracy and risk messaging.
- 4Enhancement of operational regional storm surge models and wave prediction models (in coordination with USGS) to improve probabilistic guidance and communications.
- 5A mandated program plan within 180 days of enactment and annual budget submissions to Congress detailing research, data acquisition, technology transfer, resources, and timelines.
- 6Addressing data voids in highly vulnerable areas by identifying under-observed regions, understanding barriers to observation coverage, expanding weather observations (including urban heat island mapping), deploying decision-support testbeds for emergency operations, and advancing forecasting and climate modeling in those regions.
- 7Interagency partnership to support pilot projects—led by the Under Secretary, with NWS and FEMA—focused on speeding coordination and use of localized weather data in infrastructure and emergency decision-making.
- 8At least one pilot project must tackle science challenges around using mesonet data (dense regional weather networks) in local decision making and the development of tools/training for critical infrastructure owners/operators (dams, power facilities, nuclear plants, transportation networks).