Career?

[AdamJorgensen]

I love storms so much, just watching their awesome power makes me want to be near them all the time. Its just nice to see some different weather from the usual sunny clear weather all the time. That's why I go chasing sometimes to just be in that storm. It is defiantly a true passion for me. There's something about a good storm that just gets my adrenaline and excitement going. You know how when somebody says "wasn't that a bad storm?" (bad as in intensity) well I'm the kind of person to say that it was a great storm. I'll call a storm bad if it didn't amount to anything. So you can tell my passion for storms, thunderstorms in particular is off the scale.

And that is why I am here. I have had a passion for storms since I was 5 years old. I take great note in remembering some of the great storms of the past in my area from as young as I can remember and still do today. My question finally is can you make this gun-ho passion into career that you can actually making a living off of? I see the storm chasers on T.V., do they actually get paid to do that by a weather office and that's all they do?

Right now, I'm currently a university student hoping to maybe pursue meteorology. I'm also a private pilot which has given me tons of experience with weather. I already took a course earlier this year in synaptic meteorology and are taking a storm chasing course this summer at the same university. After that, I will probably take weather and climate and anything else to do with weather that is offered at my university. As far as obvious weather careers, I'm not interested in sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle for 8 hours everyday. I'm more into the field work and observing and researching weather. But are there actual positions of just things like that? I don't know if I'm that interested in being a forecaster. I want to be one of those storm spotter or storm-tracker guys that you hear on local T.V. stations that are relaying information on sever storms back to the station.

I understand that there is a lot of math and physics involved when pursuing a meteorology degree. For my interests in what field of meteorology I want to pursue, how much math do I need to know?

Does anybody know about those storm chasers that give tours to people who want to chase storms? I think their called "Silver Linings" and "Cloud 9 Tours". Saw them on T.V. one time. That would be a fun job but can you make a living off of it? I do not want to be poor because I had to endure that my whole life growing up and it sucks. I want to be well off but at the same time, I want to do what I love doing and something involving weather is that. I know a lot of people see storm spotting or chasing as just a hobby but it would be so great if you could actually make it a paying career. Anybody's advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Warren Eckels]

Math -- standard for scientific fields

First of all, the best thing to do is to visit or e-mail a meteorology department whose classes you wish to take, and ask them.

For what it's worth, I'm an American with an MS in applied math applying to grad school in 2006-7 who will be taking deficiency courses in 2005-6. In the United States, it appears that the three introductory courses in calculus (ending in multivariate calculus), a linear algebra/differential equations course and two semesters of physics form part of the first two years of an undergrad meteorology program. I don't know if it's required, but two semesters of chemistry and the fourth course in the calculus sequence (advanced calculus/vector analysis) have helped me as I read through survey-level materials; they may not be required. Beyond that, any other math courses you may require will appear as prerequisites or corequisites.

Should your love of meteorology wane, this background is readily applicable to other majors in science and engineering. Good luck!

 

[Jeff Snyder]

You can look at the U of Oklahoma's Meteorology Course sheet for a B.S. at http://www.ou.edu/bulletins/degree-sheets/metrlgy.pdf . The AMS is in the process of updating their curricula page, which has a ton of information about a ton of meteorology schools. Check it out at http://www.ametsoc.org/amsucar_curricula/index.cfm .

At OU, as I'm sure is true of other schools, the undergraduate Metr degree is nearly a math minor by default; one additional math course will result in a math minor. Generally, most students (myself included) take 4 semesters of Calculus, Linear Algebra, an upper-division Statistics, Ordinary Differential Equations, and Partial Differential Statistics (fun stuff!). There are also minor options in broadcast journalism, computer science, physics, and hydrologic science; there are areas of concentration in business and computer science. While those are valid at OU, most of the met. programs at other universities also offer different minors and concentrations to suit your interests.

I recently graduated, and will be starting the Masters program here at OU this fall. There is a lot of graduate work that involves hands-on, in-the-field activity. For example, I'll be working with Dr. Bluestein and the UMASS mobile radars -- certainly hands-on (Stormtrack member Robin Tanamachi, a PhD student, is also working on the same project). I know there are other graduate students (present or past) on this board that do not sit "in front of a computer in a cubicle for 8 hours everyday". Much of the field experience seems to occur in graduate school, so prepare yourself for lots of time in school! That said, even if you don't do graduate work, there are still many positions that I'm sure you'll find interesting. Regardless, you need to work on your undergraduate studies first!

That said, just make sure that you realize that you don't get a degree and job in meteorology just to storm chase. Storm chasing is only a full-time job for a very small handful of folks; for the vast majority of people, chasing is a hobby. In most cases (well, nearly all save a few), the TV chasers you see and hear aren't meteorologists; most TV chasers are just experienced chasers without a meteorology degree. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since a meteorology degree and storm chasing aren't directly related -- in other words, having a BS doesn't make one a good chaser, just as a good chaser doesn't need to have a degree.

As for the chase tours, several of the operators of the tours are on this board.

 

[BColbert]

so you don't get that much field experience, well that sucks i was trying to talk my mom into letting me take my math at osu big osu fan here lol and take my meteorology classes online/through the mail from mississippi state

 

[Jeff Snyder]

so you don't get that much field experience, well that sucks i was trying to talk my mom into letting me take my math at osu big osu fan here lol and take my meteorology classes online/through the mail from mississippi state

Well you'll probably get 0 field experience if you do the online/'by mail' program, that much I can say. There are still opportunities with various field projects as an undergraduate! I know some folks who work with the DOWs and SMART-R mobile radars, and there were plenty of volunteers needed/used for VORTEX (I which was run in the mid-late 90s, and II which will likely run either 2007-08 or 2008-09), IHOP, TELEX, IPEX, and STEPS, all of which were significant field projects that used volunteers. So, there is still plenty of opportunity to get involved as an undergraduate.

 

[BColbert]

thats what my mom said was that i should go to the best and also i would get field experience by going there because over mail you don't get the hands on experience and thank you for giving a good answer.

 

[Justin Turcotte]

Welcome to the forum Adam. If you're chasing in the Red River Valley than you might see me at the storm. Career options in chasing are extremely limited but not impossible. There are research positions out there. I know there are hail research folks in western North Dakota that occasionally take on someone new. Like just about every position in meteorology, research positions are highly competitive. A strong background in computer software and programming is seemingly becoming more important as well.