Whether or not to pursue weather

Grape,

As a reporter, I must say that all this Gustav coverage has gotten me curious about doing weather. Have you ever done it and how does one get "into" the field? Do you need to be a meteorologist?
-Career Changer

Dear Changer,

Yes, I used to do weather and actually thought I wanted to pursue it full time, but to be honest it bored me. There simply wasn't the variety offered by reporting. After awhile you just run out of things to talk about when the weather is the same for days on end. But for some, meteorology is fascinating.

If you're interested, you can start by approaching a member of the weather staff at your station in order to learn a little about the science and the weather computer. You might also pick up the "USA Today Weather Book" which has basic information and great graphics about meteorology... it's kind of a "weather 101" book.

Still interested? You can enroll online to get a meteorology degree. I did mine with Mississippi State. I figured a "correspondence" degree would be easy, but it was anything but. Learned an awful lot. That is a good program and there are others out there as well. Then if you want to get a "seal" you'll have to take a test.

Years ago many weather people didn't have degrees, but now most stations like to hire people who have them, or are at least working toward one.

What makes a good weather person? Well, knowledge of the science is very important, but on the days when nothing is happening (90 percent of the time) a weathercaster needs to be very versatile. You end up visiting schools, doing live shots from the county fair, and sometimes doing environmental packages.

I liked to hire weather people who were both competent meteorologists and had outgoing personalities, and unfortunately those are hard to find. Too many are just dull, and those types have a harder time finding jobs despite degrees. Anyone can take a national weather service forecast and stand in front of a map, but it takes real talent to make it interesting or fun. Think of a great science teacher you had, then translate that to doing weather on TV.

Oh yeah, just about every weather person out there gets the forecast from a service.

In the past ten years, another problem seems to have bloomed like a weed; many meteorologists have become a bit arrogant. So if you get the degree, don't let it go to your head.... and don't let any arrogance come through in your on-camera performance.

By the way, the smartest weather guy I ever knew never even went to college.