by Cynthia Wall

Created on: November 23, 2008

If you're destined to become a meteorologist, you were probably different from other children. Instead of wondering if a cloud looked like an elephant or Grandma, you questioned if it was altocumulus or cirrostratus. While others bemoaned a rainy day, you looked at the rain gauge to see if the area drought was ending. When thunder and lightning roared through the sky, your mother had to drag you to shelter. The weather man was your favorite TV personality.

Meteorologists (people who observe, report, and forecast weather conditions) are some of our most consulted scientists on the planet. They are the ones who will tell a ship's captain or plane captain whether it is safe to take a certain route. They are the ones who will give farmers vital information about the season ahead. They are the ones who will tell a ski resort owner how much snow to expect, and they are the ones who will reassure a nervous bride about her outdoor June wedding.

Man has learned to do amazing things. He can fly himself to the moon or around in space. He can navigate the inside of the human body with microscopic probes with the ease that someone drives around the block. He can invent machines that do the bulk of human work. He can invent communication devices that would have made Marconi jump with joy. He can express himself in art, music, and literature. He can communicate with anyone on the planet or flying in space with the push of a button. BUT, he can not control the weather.

If you are excited about the prospect of being involved in a career in meteorology, start planning for it in high school. To complete a degree in Meteorology or Atmospheric Sciences, you'll need a good background in higher math, advanced physics, and chemistry. Since so much of forecasting is done by computer, you'll need excellent skills in that area also. There are many different areas of meteorology. If you like the glamour of being a forecaster on television or radio, you'll need to add communications as a minor in your curriculum. If you'd like to become a researcher or teacher, you'll probably want to get a masters or doctorate. Some meteorologists get a bachelor's in math, physical sciences, or engineering first and then get their advanced degree in meteorology. Use your summer vacations to work in weather-related internships.

Since the oceans have a huge causative effect on weather patterns, studying oceanography may be part of your curriculum as well. There are many combinations of coursework that can end in a meteorology degree, but the key component for success is the hunger to understand how the physical world works. What makes lightning? What makes the tides ebb and flow? Why do we have fog? Hurricanes? An occasional sunny day in New York in January? These are questions the world wants to know and you will be the one to learn the answers and explain them.

There are careers that require less than a four year degree. Collection of weather data is usually performed by Meteorological Technicians who may have training varying from a few months to two years. The variety of careers within the umbrella of meteorology is immense. How about being a forensic meteorologist and testifying in cases where weather was a factor? Or how about working in government to combat climate change? Perhaps you'd like to be the weather forecaster at an airport or with a farm bureau.

One thing for sure, you'll never lack for something to talk about at dinner parties. People always want to sit next to the weather person and find out more about how this thing called weather works. One note of caution though. If you forecasted that it would be sunny for the event and it winds up raining, you may be better off staying home.

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