What You'll Do

  • Broadcast weather conditions, forecasts, or severe weather warnings to the public via television, radio, or the Internet or provide this information to the news media.
  • Gather data from sources such as surface or upper air stations, satellites, weather bureaus, or radar for use in meteorological reports or forecasts.
  • Prepare forecasts or briefings to meet the needs of industry, business, government, or other groups.
  • Measure wind, temperature, and humidity in the upper atmosphere, using weather balloons.
  • Direct forecasting services at weather stations or at radio or television broadcasting facilities.
  • Collect air samples from planes or ships over land or sea to study atmospheric composition.
  • Conduct numerical simulations of climate conditions to understand and predict global or regional weather patterns.
  • Design or develop new equipment or methods for meteorological data collection, remote sensing, or related applications.
  • Analyze climate data sets, using techniques such as geophysical fluid dynamics, data assimilation, or numerical modeling.
  • Conduct wind assessment, integration, or validation studies.

Essential Skills

Reading Comprehension 4.12/5
Active Listening 4.0/5
Speaking 4.0/5
Science 4.0/5
Critical Thinking 4.0/5
Active Learning 4.0/5
Writing 3.88/5
Complex Problem Solving 3.88/5
Judgment and Decision Making 3.75/5
Mathematics 3.38/5
Learning Strategies 3.12/5
Monitoring 3.12/5

Career Fit Overview

Use this summary to understand the kind of profile this role rewards. It helps you judge whether this career looks like a stronger match than your current role, a nearby move worth exploring, or a broader path to compare more seriously.

Top passions

  • Analyst: Investigating problems and finding patterns keeps you engaged.
  • Maker: Building and fixing energizes you. You like tangible results and practical tools.
  • Organizer: Bringing order to data and processes satisfies you.

Common styles

Attention to Detail, Dependability, Intellectual Curiosity, Achievement Orientation, Tolerance for Ambiguity

Want a personal read on fit? Take the free assessment and compare this career to your current role, nearby alternatives, and broader stronger-fit options.

Key Abilities

This career demands strong capabilities in the following areas:

Oral Expression 4.25/5
Oral Comprehension 4.12/5
Written Comprehension 4.12/5
Inductive Reasoning 4.12/5
Deductive Reasoning 4.0/5
Written Expression 3.88/5
Problem Sensitivity 3.88/5
Speech Clarity 3.88/5

Technologies & Tools

AccuWeather Galileo Adobe Photoshop Advanced Visual Systems AVS/Express Air quality modeling software Aninoquisi MesoTRAC Apple Final Cut Pro Baron Services FasTrac Baron Volumetric Imaging and Processing of Integrated Radar VIPIR C++ Cave5D Cisco IOS Environmental Research Services RAOB ESRI ArcInfo ESRI ArcView Facebook Ferret Flow Analysis Software Toolkit FAST Formula translation/translator FORTRAN Grid analysis and display system GrADS IBM SPSS Statistics

Work Environment & Strengths

Common Strengths for This Career

  • Attention to Detail (High importance: 4.78/5)
  • Dependability (High importance: 4.65/5)
  • Intellectual Curiosity (High importance: 4.63/5)
  • Achievement Orientation (High importance: 4.43/5)
  • Tolerance for Ambiguity (High importance: 4.34/5)

Want to see how YOUR strengths align with this career?

Take Free 15-Min Assessment →

How to Become One

Most employers require a bachelor's degree in a relevant field. Some positions may also require experience through internships, co-ops, or entry-level work to strengthen your candidacy.

Similar Careers to Explore

Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists

100.0% similar profile

Nuclear Engineers

99.7% similar profile

Food Scientists and Technologists

99.7% similar profile

Environmental Engineers

99.6% similar profile

Molecular and Cellular Biologists

99.6% similar profile

Biologists

99.5% similar profile

Physicists

99.4% similar profile

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

99.4% similar profile

Also Known As

This career is known by many different job titles across industries. Here are all the variations:

Aerologist Air Analyst Astrochemist Atmospheric Chemist Atmospheric Scientist Broadcast Meteorologist Climate Change Risk Assessor Climatologist Computer Meteorologist Forecaster General Forecaster Hurricane Tracker Hydrometeorological Technician (Hydrometeorological Tech) Hydrometeorologist Marine Meteorologist Meteorological Engineer Meteorological Technician (Meteorological Tech) Meteorologist Morning Meteorologist Ocean Monitoring and Data Assimilation Scientist Oceanographic Meteorologist Operational Meteorologist Physical Meteorologist Radiosonde Specialist Research Meteorologist Service Hydrologist Space Operations Officer Space Scientist Storm Chaser Synoptic Meteorologist Tornado Chaser Tracker Warning Coordination Meteorologist Weather Analyst Weather Anchor Weather Forecaster Weatherization Specialist Weatherman

Career Fit FAQs

Is this career a good fit for me

This page shows the role itself. To see personal fit, use the assessment to compare your interests, motivations, and strengths against this career and against the role you are in now.

Can this help if I want to stay in my field

Yes. Many people use career pages like this to compare nearby roles in the same field and see whether they need a full switch or a better-fit version of the work they already know.

What should I compare first

Start with the daily tasks, the preparation level, and the work-style signals on this page. Then use the assessment to see whether this role looks like a stronger fit than your current role or just a different title.