An Update on the Work of VORTEX-USA to help build a WeatherReady Nation

Since 2015, NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory has led VORTEX-Southeast, a Congressional mandated program to support and perform interdisciplinary research to better understand the tornado problem in the Southeast United States, and partner with the community to take initial steps to improve societal outcomes after tornado events in the region based on this research. Over the last three years, Congress has charged NOAA and NSSL to begin to evolve VORTEX-Southeast to a broader VORTEX-USA program. VORTEX-USA will take lessons learned from VORTEX-Southeast to begin tackling regional tornado issues in other parts of the country, as well as work toward the goals of the Congressionally mandated Tornado Warning Improvement and Extension Plan (TWIEP). To help guide this expanded effort and ensure strong connections between the research and operational communities, in late 2022 NSSL formed a VORTEX-USA Federal Working Group consisting of NOAA research scientists and representatives from all levels of the National Weather Service. The initial work of this group will focus on updating the 2020 program science assessment, synthesizing research results for integration into the operational community, and prioritizing gaps where additional research and transition activities need to be focused. This presentation will provide the audience with initial results from this work as well as updates on Congressional and agency priorities for the VORTEX effort.