Meteorological Technician

How about this heat? Can you believe all the rain we’ve gotten this year? Did you hear about the snow we’re supposed to get next week?

For most people, weather is the ultimate small-talk subject. When you’re a Meteorological Technician, however, it’s not just small; because it’s your job to talk about the weather, it’s every size of talk there is.

An assistant to Meteorologists, you’re paid as a Meteorological Technician to monitor the weather and to report weather information to the public via organizations such as the National Weather Service and the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as private entities such as airports, environmental groups, and TV and radio stations.

Although Meteorologists are the ones who analyze, interpret, and forecast the weather, you’re the one as the Meteorological Technician who collects the data they use to do so. As a result, you typically spend your days out in the world, observing the skies and using special instruments — for instance, radar and weather balloons — to monitor atmospheric conditions and measure things like air pressure, pollution, temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind velocity. Once you’ve gathered your readings, you then submit them electronically so Meteorologists can analyze environmental health and make predictions about weather systems.

Of course, you’re responsible for more than testing and transmitting weather conditions. You’re also charged with maintaining and repairing weather equipment; keeping weather records; and advising public and private interests about weather, climate, and air quality issues.

At the end of the day, you make your living watching the weather while the rest of the world talks about it around the water cooler!