Career in Meteorology and weather forecasting

[multiweb]

I thought I'd ask here as there are a lot of technically minded people and it's somehow related to astronomy. We all look out for the clouds. :)

My daughter is in year 8. Always talking about weather and showing interest in weather forecast, cloud patterns, atmospheric layers, etc... I guess she's always seeing me checking skippyskies and the BOM :question:

At this stage I'm just buying her books with pretty pictures. As far as I can tell with the limited research I did the field of meteorology is linked to Engineering. What is the academic path to get into this. What are the jobs and availability at the end.

If anyone is or knows someone already in a similar field I'd very much appreciate some pointers and I'll go do a little more reading and digging. TIA. :thumbsup:

[gary]

Hi Marc,

Though engineers contribute to a broad range of areas, including biomedical
engineering, astronomy, remote imaging and meteorology, the later is certainly not part of
any engineering school curriculum in Australia that I am personally aware of.

It would be a Science Degree, run by schools of earth sciences or schools of
environmental science or the like.

Schools of mathematics with strong applied mathematics departments would
also be a possible path. Again it would be part of a Science Degree.

The Bureau has some useful links here -
http://www.bom.gov.au/library/metorganisations.shtml

Some of the institutions mentioned include Charles Sturt, Monash and
the University of Melbourne.

From the same link, you can see there are a rich and diverse number of potential employers at the end.
It can literally take you to the ends of the Earth as part of the Australian Antarctic Expedition.

See also here -
http://www.amos.org.au/education/cid/3/parent/0/pid/3/t/education

[multiweb]

Thanks Gary - will check it out. My boy already being in UTS this is the link (http://www.handbook.uts.edu.au/subjects/details/48362.html) that I found previously and thought it might be related to the field.

[gary]

Hi Marc,

As I typed I wondered how your son is going.

I visited the link you supplied and hydraulics and hydrology run by a school
of civil engineering would likely not excite someone wishing to pursue a career
in meteorology and climate. It is more concerned with water flow across land, rivers
and channels, bridge building, dam building, flood mitigation and so on.
Lots of fluid mechanics no doubt of which the treatment of where the water came
from in the first place would be dealt with in probably a few minutes. :)

The applied science departments such as earth sciences and environmental
sciences would be the go. :thumbsup:

Anyway, the links I supplied will get you started.

Knowing teenagers though, don't be surprised if next year you are having to research schools
of veterinary science as their interests change. :)

But it is great she has expressed an interest in something. Many get to the HSC and are still without a clue.

[multiweb]

He's going really well. Loving it.


Yes those bottom links were very instructive. Thanks



:lol: I know... Time will tell. :)

That'd be nice though. One in Engineering and one at the BOM. All I need is to build the OBS when I retire. ;)

[tlgerdes]

Building your own weather fairy eh ;) :thumbsup:

[multiweb]

Yep - just finished painting her room. Pink and purple. :lol:

[Blue Skies]

In the meantime there are a variety of good forums spread around Australia where weather enthusiasts and storm chasers come together and they are usually good places to learn as well. The most obvious national one is the Weatherzone forums but some people don't like their level of moderation. But on the other hand each state seems to have their own independant forum. Here in WA I'm part of the WAWeathergroup forums but you might want to have a look at the Brisbane Storm Chasers Page (http://www.bsch.au.com/) (hmm, they don't have a forum, but they do have great predictive charts!) The Australian Weather Forum (http://www.theaustralianweatherforum.com/forum/index.php) also has a good reputation.

Just for fun is the Cloud Appreciation Society (http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/) as well.

[Davros]

Is she at the Facebook age?
If so here is a couple of very active and good weather pages:

https://www.facebook.com/SevereWeatherAustralia?ref=stream

https://www.facebook.com/HigginsStormChasing?ref=stream

[multiweb]

Thanks guys - more reading to do.
No she doesn't have FB. She doesn't want to go on it.

[Barrykgerdes]

I have a friend recently retired who is a meteorologist. He hasn't worked in this field for a long time however, but he does speak french.

Barry

[AstralTraveller]

I looked into this many years ago. There are specialist degrees in meterology. As I recall the content is very heavy on maths and physics (with a bit more maths thrown in). It's not related at all the earth sciences where serious maths is basically unknown (and unwanted, trust me ;))

[multiweb]

Ha.... oui, but if he's retired things might have changed a little in career paths between then and now. :question:



Yeah I have a feeling it must be pretty heavy in physics & thermodynamics. There is a lot of data collecting going on these days though so maybe more separate branches to get into with different skillsets hopefully.

[goober]

Yes, it's maths and physics all the way, degree and higher honors preferred (I'm on the inside at the BoM).

[bartman]

Or possibly this guy (http://www.perthweatherlive.com/wxabout.php) and his weather station website.
Maybe you can get your daughter a little weather station and contribute to a local weather website?
Cheers
Bartman

[Barrykgerdes]

You can never have a successful career in weather forecasting unless you have rheumatics in you big toe or other similar indicators.

barry

[AussieSky]

www.aussiesky.net/weather (http://www.aussiesky.net/weather)