Career In Meteorology

Meteorology = weather girl?

Alright so I'm becoming a senior next year and before i go into college i want to think of a major. Well i'm pretty sure i want to major in meteorology but i keep getting asked, "Oh so you want to be a weather girl?" so my question is if you major in meteorology does that mean the only job you can get is to be a weather person?

Public Comments

1. On the American Meteorological Society's career website are many different occupations for those individuals with degrees in meteorology. http://careercenter.ametsoc.org/c/search_results.cfm?site_id=421 Now, you can tell all those people who ask you silly questions that you are going to be a Satellite and Numerical Weather Prediction Data Assimilation Visiting Scientist. Then you can asked them, "Of course, you do know what that is, don't you?" That ought to stop them from asking questions.
2. Research Meteorologists: Many of these scientists work for the National Weather Service or other government agency. NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the military. Most have a particular issue they are studying. Teachers and Professors: Many people use their knowledge of the atmosphere and meteorology to become educators. Sharing your knowledge at a high school or college level can help to create future generations of meteorologists. Forensic Meteorologists: This type of meteorologist will often investigate claims for insurance companies on past weather or research weather for a court of law. Consulting Meteorologists: Large companies now hire meteorologists for consultation work. Companies such as Liz Claiborne, M&M Candies, and Target all hire meteorologists to improve their buying and selling power. Climate Meteorologists: This type of meteorologist looks at long-term weather patterns and data to help predict future climate trends and past climate data. Archive Meteorologists: Many weather scientists will also be in charge of researching, verifying, and reporting on storms of the past.
3. There's so much more to meteorology than just being on TV (which I have to always explain to people after I tell them what my major is). Here's some fields that I have either looked into or know about: -Forecasting with the National Weather Service - hard to get into, but once you're in, you're pretty much set -Teaching - College if you want to just teach meteorology, high school you'd probably have to teach some other science courses as well -Private Sector - Pick a company. In one way or another, they probably have a meteorologist on their bankroll. A guy graduated from my school a few years back and got a job with the LPGA, and went around to all the different golf courses just to forecast the weather for tournaments. Certified Consulting Meteorologists fall into this category, and these are people who usually work at home and forecast for specific clients. -Armed Forces - I know when I told the Army recruiter that I was going to be a meteorologist, he really tried to get me to join. All of the branches need to know what the weather is going to be like when they're getting ready to do a mission. Meteorology is becoming cross-dimensional as people realize how important it is to their lives and businesses. For example, this summer I'm going to be interning with NASA underneath a Meteorologist/Aerospace Engineer. If you have a secondary interest, look around to see if you can find something that brings the two together.