1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Atmospheric Rivers Reconnaissance, Observation, and Warning Act or the ARROW Act . 2. Conduct of winter season reconnaissance of atmospheric rivers on the West Coast of the United States (a) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Every year, storms threaten lives and property and cause significant disruptions to travel and commerce. (2) During the cool season from October through April, the western United States and other regions around the United States are significantly impacted by atmospheric rivers. (3) For key regions across the western United States, 70 to 90 percent of days on which the National Weather Service issued either watches, warnings, or advisories for any hazard type were associated with land-falling atmospheric rivers. (4) Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere, below 10,000 feet, that behave like rivers of water vapor pushed along by strong winds. Outside the tropics, atmospheric rivers are responsible for more than 90 percent of the horizontal movement of water vapor. Atmospheric rivers shift locations following large-scale weather patterns, carrying an amount of water vapor on average equivalent to roughly 25 times the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. (5) Precipitation and flooding in the western United States from high-impact storms are largely controlled by characteristics of land-falling atmospheric rivers, accounting for up to 50 percent of annual precipitation and more than 90 percent of major flood events. (6) Conducting atmospheric river reconnaissance during the winter season in the United States significantly enhances storm observations and improves forecasts of storm landfall and intensity. (7) The National Winter Season Operations Plan, the goal of which is to improve the accuracy and timeliness of severe winter season storm forecasting and warning services provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Air Force, and the Navy, coordinates Federal