How are the meteorologist jobs?

How to become a meteorologist?

• I really enjoy learning about meteorology and such in school and I've been maybe considering a job in that field. I don't think I'd like to actually be meteorologist that's like on the news channels, so what are some other interesting jobs/career options in that field? What kind of degree would I study for in college to become a meteorologist? Also does anyone know of any colleges that offer good programs for meteorology? Is there any internships for meteorology? My mom said that I could become a meteorologist for the Navy. I'm not sure if would to do that, but does anyone know anything about that? Any tips or information on becoming a meteorologist would be very helpful and gladly appreciated :)

• Answer:

  Lots of great questions there Sydney. There are many types of jobs that meteorologists (AKA atmospheric scientists) can fill besides simply predicting the weather for a news station. The single largest American employer of meteorologists is the US government, who has a 30% stake on meteorologists in the country. This includes every arm of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, and National Guard) as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under which the National Weather Service is the largest employer. Other government agencies also hire meteorologists, including the Department of Defense. The military almost exclusively uses officers as meteorologists, though occasionally there are private citizens that also work for the military as well. The government has strict educational guidelines for the meteorologists that work for them. These include a bachelor's degree—not necessarily in meteorology—with at least 24 semester hours of meteorology/atmospheric science courses, including 6 hours in the analysis and prediction of weather systems, 6 hours of atmospheric dynamics and thermodynamics, 3 hours of physical meteorology, and 2 hours of remote sensing of the atmosphere or instrumentation. Other required courses include 3 semester hours of ordinary differential equations, 6 hours of college physics, and at least 9 hours of courses appropriate for a physical science major—such as statistics, chemistry, physical oceanography, physical climatology, physical hydrology, radiative transfer, aeronomy (the study of the upper atmosphere), advanced thermodynamics, advanced electricity and magnetism, light and optics, and computer science. If you decide later on that you might be interested in going into the armed forces as a weather officer, you might consider finding a college that offers an ROTC program in the arm of the military you are interested in. Of the remaining 70%, a portion work as researchers and professors in educational institutions like universities or the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). These positions typically require a PhD, though it is possible to acquire some positions with a Masters or a Bachelors with years of experience. The rest of the work force is in the private sector, though only a very small fraction actually work for news organizations. The rest of the meteorologists tend to work for engineering firms, private forecasting companies (such as World Weather, Inc. and Weather or Not to name a couple), environmental/air pollution consulting firms (like Trinity Consultants), or energy companies that produce wind or solar farms (like Siemens). The private sector companies tend not to have as rigid of an education requirement, though acquiring a Master's would be highly beneficial. Depending on the sub-field you are interested in (air pollution, energy production, forecasting), you will want to focus your education to match. There are several fine schools for studying meteorology. Probably the best well-rounded schools would be Penn State, Colorado State, Oklahoma University, UC Davis, and MIT. However, there are many more schools that offer at least a Bachelor's and higher degrees in meteorology across the country (see links below). Many schools offer sub-disciplines that you can get an emphasis in. For instance, the University of Kansas offers the general (for forecasting), air pollution, hydrology, and broadcasting options to it's students to help specialize your education. In general, if you would like to pursue a career in meteorology, you will benefit greatly by pursuing a Master's degree after your Bachelor's. The field is becoming very competitive, and employer's typically find the higher education more beneficial. While you are in high school, try and complete as much math as possible. Additionally, courses in the physical sciences (chemistry, physics, earth science, etc.) will be very beneficial for the understanding of course material in college. The meteorology courses are essentially applied physics courses, which means that the more physics and math you have under your belt, the easier they should be.