On June 21, the WSWC submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies regarding the N National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) /National Weather Service’s (NWS) U.S. Weather Research Program appropriations.
In 2020, the NWS submitted to Congress the Subseasonal and Seasonal Forecasting Innovation: Plans for the Twenty-First Century report. The report outlines current uses of NOAA S2S products and services, and how NOAA plans to improve the usability and transference of data, information, and forecasts. The report recommended a number of pilot projects, including one for improving forecasts of winter precipitation (which provides the snowpack sustaining water supplies in mountain areas) in the West, and one for spring/summer precipitation forecasts for agricultural water supply in the Plains States. Another was recommended for Artic sea ice and one for tropical cyclones.
The WSWC urged the Subcommittee to provide resources for western pilot projects to improve S2S precipitation forecasting to support water management.