US NOAA News

NOAA NSSL Unveils Three New Mobile Weather Radars on Heavy-Duty Trucks

NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory unveiled three new mobile weather radars on March 30, 2026, expanding its mobile observing fleet from one to three radars. Two trucks each carry an X-band (3-cm-wavelength) radar and one truck carries a C-band (5-cm-wavelength) radar, designed for rapid deployment to study tornadoes, severe storms, flash floods, and wildfires. The mobile radars allow scientists to position instruments closer to storms than fixed radar networks permit, enabling high-resolution data collection on atmospheric processes and storm structures.

NOAA Rescinds Commercial Fishing Ban in Atlantic Monument Area

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service has rescinded a regulation prohibiting commercial fishing within the 4,913-square-mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a protected area in the Atlantic Ocean. This action aligns U.S. fishing regulations with President Trump's Executive Proclamation to reopen the monument to commercial fishing of species including Atlantic deep-sea red crab, squid, Atlantic mackerel, and Atlantic tunas and swordfish. Commercial fishermen and seafood businesses previously excluded from the monument will now have access to these waters.

NOAA Releases First Seafloor Nodule Images from Waters Near American Samoa

NOAA has released the first images of geologic seafloor samples collected from federal waters in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) beyond American Samoa, as part of a hydrographic survey project to map and characterize more than 30,000 square nautical miles of seabed. Box core samples were collected on April 14, 2026, at a depth of 5,498 meters (3.42 miles), revealing presumed polymetallic nodules. The collection effort implements the U.S. Offshore Critical Minerals Mapping Plan established by Executive Order 14285, with USGS scientists conducting compositional analyses expected to be released early summer 2026.