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Job outlook for weather forecasters in the United States
Are weather forecaster jobs in demand?
Weather forecaster job and salary trends over time
Weather forecaster jobs over time
Weather forecaster job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,427 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,710 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,556 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,559 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,497 | 0.00% |
Average weather forecaster salary over time
Weather forecaster salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $64,204 | $30.87 | +4.6% |
| 2025 | $61,398 | $29.52 | +1.3% |
| 2024 | $60,580 | $29.13 | +2.2% |
| 2023 | $59,267 | $28.49 | --0.4% |
| 2022 | $59,518 | $28.61 | +2.9% |
Weather forecaster jobs by state
Most common states for weather forecasters
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 7 | 1% |
| 2 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 5 | 1% |
| 3 | Alaska | 739,795 | 4 | 1% |
| 4 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 3 | 1% |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 7 | 0% |
| 6 | Kentucky | 4,454,189 | 7 | 0% |
| 7 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 6 | 0% |
| 8 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 5 | 0% |
| 9 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 5 | 0% |
| 10 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 5 | 0% |
| 11 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 4 | 0% |
| 12 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 4 | 0% |
| 13 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 4 | 0% |
| 14 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 3 | 0% |
| 15 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 3 | 0% |
| 16 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 3 | 0% |
| 17 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 2 | 0% |
| 18 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1 | 0% |
| 19 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 1 | 0% |
| 20 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 1 | 0% |
Most common cities for weather forecasters
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado Springs | 1 | 0% | $65,331 |
| 2 | Montgomery | 1 | 0% | $48,067 |
Weather Forecaster job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of weather forecaster experts
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Louisiana State University and A&M College
Florida Institute of Technology
SUNY Stony Brook
University of Georgia
North Carolina A & T State University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Washington
TruWeather Solutions
Florida State University
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
Dr. Chris Karmosky: I think one thing that most meteorologists share is the passion for learning about and communicating about the weather. Many of us have been fascinated by the weather from a very young age. From heavy snowfall to tornadoes and hurricanes, the power of the weather is undeniable. And while we would never wish for destruction, severe weather is awe-inspiring. Forecasting the weather is predicting the future—it’s not an easy task and it’s a wonder that we are as good at this as we are. Meteorologists get near-instant feedback on their skills. We can see if our forecasts from yesterday were correct, and can adjust accordingly moving forward. Few professions allow for that kind of learning opportunity on a daily basis. Only two drawbacks come to mind in our profession: shift work and the small vocal minority of the public that have unrealistic expectations or are pushing political agendas. Because weather information is collected at all hours, and many people look to morning weather forecasts to plan their day, it is important for meteorologists to keep working throughout the night to provide the most up-to-date information. So working the midnight shift for the National Weather Service or waking up at 2AM to prepare for the morning news is a fact of life for some. That life is not for everyone! While I am shielded from much of this as an academic, my colleagues and former students who on TV do report back some negative interactions with the broader public. While they say most of their interactions are positive, there are some who do make nasty comments over social media if the rain/snow line is off by 10 miles, or they don’t believe humans are changing the climate, or just don’t like the cut or color of the dress someone wears on TV. So one has to develop a thick skin if they want to be on TV. But overall the positives far outweigh the negatives and it is an exciting, rewarding and incredibly important field for our students to be entering!
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
Dr. Chris Karmosky: A meteorologist will take on a variety of tasks depending on the exact position. Meteorologists are not just the people you see on TV—they work in private sector forecasting, for local, state and federal government, the military, aviation industry, as well as in academia. Typically meteorologists are tasked with some kind of forecasting, using their knowledge of what’s happening in the atmosphere, computer models and increasingly AI algorithms to predict what weather conditions will be. Because weather is ever-changing, these forecasts are updated as new information comes in during the day as well as overnight. Job duties for someone just entering the field may require things like forecast verification (seeing how well past forecasts pan out), using software to produce forecasts of temperature and precipitation over some region of interest, installing and maintaining weather observing equipment, or collecting and analyzing data from ground stations and weather balloons.
Steve Nesbitt
Professor and HeadUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Atmospheric Sciences And Meteorology
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Steve Nesbitt: Meteorology is a great career because your work directly benefits society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2023, the median pay of a meteorologist was $92,860, and the job market in meteorology is expected to grow at a rate of 4% per year. The private sector will continue to hire meteorologists at the highest rates in the next decade, where meteorology skills are often coupled with risk analysis, computation and modeling, communication, and/or data visualization skills.
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
Steve Nesbitt: Meteorology is a wide-ranging field relating to the prediction of the weather. Operational Meteorologists predict the weather and its impacts on a day-by-day basis, relying on their experience and the analysis of real-time information from their weather observations and forecast models to make and communicate their predictions. A Research Meteorologist may scientifically examine past weather events to understand why, when, and how they occurred in order to improve their prediction and communicate their findings at conferences or in scholarly journals. A Broadcast Meteorologist uses television, radio, or social media to disseminate weather forecasts and warnings. Other careers in meteorology can be in areas such as agrometeorology, hydrometeorology, climate and climate change, data science, risk analysis, and academia.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
Paul Miller: Students can improve their income potential by being able to brand themselves as more than forecasters. While meteorologists are classically associated with weather prediction, the computer-centric nature of the disciple (i.e., weighing information provided by supercomputer-generated model simulations), students with additional experience accessing and processing the vast amount of digital data within the model files will have a professional and earnings edge. These students may also prove marketable to companies and fields outside of meteorology simply because weather and climate datasets in some ways epitomize the idea of 'big data.'
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Paul Miller: Computer scripting, data science, and machine learning/AI are either already or poised to become fixtures of meteorological curricula. Because of the increasing importance of these skills, students need to develop them early to maximize their potential for supplementary industry and academic internships later in their undergraduate career. For instance, a student the takes a computer scripting course as a senior in their atmospheric science curriculum will have fewer research and internship opportunities than a student that developed those skills earlier.
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
Paul Miller: Pursue campus, community, and industry involvement beyond your coursework, especially seeking leadership roles when possible. The best predictor of future success is past performance, so it is important to demonstrate a proactive posture regarding your career. Because most meteorological data in the U.S. are collected and freely disseminated by the federal government, there is high potential to gain exposure and experience with important weather monitoring and forecast systems before entering the job market.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
Mr. Michael Splitt: Some graduates may prefer to be employed in a specific city but getting your foot in the door or a higher paying job may require you to be available for hire in as broad a region as possible. Some cities have a very large meteorology/atmospheric science community, such as Boulder Colorado, but those types of locations are in the minority. Continue to learn! Your undergraduate career isn’t job training and you will need to apply what you’ve learned in a variety of situations. Continued training, whether on the job or other types of professional training, should be on your radar!
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mr. Michael Splitt: Skills in computing will be essential for many meteorology career pathways and include the ever growing influence of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The use of Python programming has exploded in the atmospheric sciences, in particular. Skills in communication, which ranges anywhere from working with team members to providing graphics that communicate an idea, may also grow in importance in the modern age of social media.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
Richard Murdocco: Across any career, it's important for a college graduate to understand the one key skill that they possess that differentiates them from the latest crop of graduates. As a college degree becomes more commonplace, it's become increasingly important for individuals to stand out beyond the fact they received a diploma.
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Richard Murdocco: It all comes back to what value you can bring to an organization, and demonstrating how your prior successes translate into opportunity if they hire you. Starting out, it's hard to prove worth in this regard - but know the value of your skill set - and be reasonable with your expectations.
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
Richard Murdocco: Communication - and the ability to convey complex topics to a generalized audience. This skill is universal - but in forecasting and meteorology it's especially important, especially as the National Weather Service looks to enhance their communication of weather risks in the coming years.
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
John Knox: In rough order, from most important and prevalent to still pretty important and prevalent:
- AI/machine learning ability.
- Python programming proficiency.
- Technical writing fluency.
- Ability to learn and keep learning.
- Ability to excel in remote work.
- Understanding of climate change and its effect on weather events, and the social impacts of these events.
- Communication via social media, or whatever comes along to become social media 2.0 (Facebook and Twitter/X having run their course).
- Respect for and ability to communicate with people who are different than you.
- Expertise in boundary-layer meteorology related to renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar).
Note what's not on here: chasing tornadoes. That's a hobby, not a job, except for a very few.
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Knox: Be broadly educated and be proactive in acquiring new skills. Atmospheric sciences is more interdisciplinary every day, so just knowing about the weather isn't nearly enough. Most employers in our field will say that their employees' weakest links are in communication, both oral and written. So it's not just about knowing the details of weather forecasting, for example; it's about communicating clearly so that others can act appropriately on that knowledge. And weather is not the biggest component of our field; climate is.
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
John Knox: Atmospheric science is not a field to get rich in, generally speaking. First-year salaries for B.S. recipients are low for a STEM field. I have done research to document/disseminate this information, and to put numbers on it (e.g., see https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/104/1/BAMS-D-22-0162.1.xml). B.S. recipients circa 2020 were edging toward $40,000 field-wide, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, which is a fascinating but underused source of information for all fields. Three years in, it's more like $50,000 or a little more. With inflation and low unemployment, these numbers are likely higher in 2024, but not by a whole lot. People with M.S. degrees make more, and more employers outside of broadcast meteorology are preferring M.S. recipients. The lowest starting salaries are often found in the private sector, especially TV and weather forecasting, but you can also find private-sector jobs in/near atmospheric science that are among the best-paying. Somewhere in the upper-middle of the range of starting salaries is employment in the National Weather Service, which comes with the advantages and disadvantages of being a federal employee in a shift-work environment.
Climate-related jobs are becoming more and more common, but I don't yet have a clear sense of the pay in those. Often higher degrees are needed in climate, as well as a diverse education and skillset.
You can eventually live comfortably enough as an atmospheric scientist, but not right out of school, and it's less likely with just a B.S. unless you're hired by the federal government. I tell students what I heard a long time ago from a CEO in our field: if doctors put the same low price tag on their expertise that people in meteorology do, doctors would live in shacks, not mansions. But most people attracted to our field have a sense of calling to it and also a strong interest in service to the public, and so we're usually more satisfied than those in higher-paying professions.
Gary Lackmann PhD
Professor and Interim Department HeadNorth Carolina A & T State University
Atmospheric Sciences And Meteorology
What general advice would you give to a Weather Forecaster?
Gary Lackmann PhD: Be adaptable and willing to move, both geographically and topically. Continue building and developing your skill sets. Network, use LinkedIn, develop mentoring relationships and maintain them, because you will always need them.
What Weather Forecaster skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Gary Lackmann PhD: Communication is one area. The ability to communicate scientific information to non-scientific audiences is increasingly important. Also coding, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and generally 'data science' skills are increasingly relevant.
What will help Weather Forecasters increase their earning potential?
Gary Lackmann PhD: Be flexible and open-minded about career options and directions. There are many non-traditional areas that are hiring meteorologists and atmospheric scientists, and the keywords in job searches reflect these diverse areas. Also, be prepared to continue learning and adapting as rapidly changing technologies transform our profession.
Dr. Jeffrey Frame
Teaching Associate ProfessorUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
What skills stand out on Weather Forecaster resumes?
Dr. Jeffrey Frame: Aside from what you learn in the classroom, one of the best teachers in weather forecasting is experience because, as a weather forecaster, you must apply your knowledge to the weather, which is different every day and always changing. Fortunately, students are able to attain such experience by examining the weather in classes and on their own time and by participating in forecasting contests such as the WxChallenge. Class or guided research projects that focus on weather analysis and forecasting are a plus as well.
Having good grades helps but is not the only determining factor in forecasting skills. I try to tailor the exams in most of my classes to be more applied instead of rote memorization to try to mimic forecasting setting the best that I can. I have seen students, for example, have pretty good GPAs but struggle to produce good forecasts, and other students with lower GPAs best me in forecasting contests. Being able to memorize things for exams does not make someone a good forecaster.
Good verbal and written communication skills are also a must. Someone could issue a very accurate weather forecast, but if it is communicated poorly, it will generally be useless to the public. This is true not only for television weathercasters but also for the majority of forecasters whose jobs are not in television or media.
What soft skills should all Weather Forecasters possess?
Dr. Jeffrey Frame: I mentioned communication skills above, so I won't discuss that again. Another important soft skill is critical thinking because you must apply your knowledge to unique weather patterns that you have never seen before. Forecasters also typically work as a part of a team, so good teamwork and collaboration skills are essential. The weather never closes or takes days off, so many forecasters have to work rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays. Also, forecasting duties can sometimes be hectic or fast-paced, especially during high-impact weather events, so being able to work in such environments and manage your own stress is helpful.
Experience with emergency management can also be useful for forecasters who issue weather warnings. A background in social science and psychology, in addition to meteorology, can be important to examine how best to phrase or disseminate forecasts and especially warnings such that most people heed the warnings and take potentially life-saving action.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Weather Forecasters?
Dr. Jeffrey Frame: Knowledge of meteorology and the workings of the weather, usually attained through a college degree in meteorology or atmospheric science, is by far the most important. For example, every computer forecast model tells a story. It is up to the forecaster to interpret those stories, decide which one or blend of them is likely correct if they disagree, and translate that story into words the public or customers can understand. Skills in data analysis, quantitative reasoning, and computer programming can also be useful because forecasters often develop their own products, perform research, and sometimes run or maintain their own computer forecast models.
For some private-sector forecasting jobs, which span a broad spectrum of positions including private weather forecasting firms, transportation and shipping companies, utilities, renewable energy generation, media, and the insurance and reinsurance industries, backgrounds in business, markets, trading, renewable energy, risk analysis, and media communication can be very helpful, depending on the position.
What skills will help Weather Forecasters earn the most?
Dr. Jeffrey Frame: This really depends on what sector of forecasting you're most interested in. In the National Weather Service, having a background in one of the areas listed above, in addition to meteorology, or attaining a master's degree in meteorology, can help you advance your career and earn promotions quicker. One of the highest-paying positions in meteorology is television meteorologists in major media markets; getting to such a position usually requires several years of experience working your way up from smaller markets, as well as being good on television. In the private sector outside of media, some of the highest paying forecaster jobs can be for utilities or other trading-based businesses. These jobs can be high-pressure (pardon the pun) situations in which sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars can hinge on a few degrees of a temperature forecast. Initiative and a good work ethic are helpful in all positions.
Aside from earning more money, however, I believe that the most important component to having a successful career is to find a job that you love and makes you not dread Monday morning. If I had a job that paid twice my current salary but hated it, I wouldn't feel nearly so professionally rewarded as I do now in a position that I truly enjoy.
Robert Rauber Ph.D.
DirectorUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
School of Earth, Society & Environment
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Forecasters?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: Yes. We will not return to the same "normal". I suspect that a lot of companies and possibly even government agencies will reconsider the value of letting employees work from home. we have learned as a society that work from home is more efficient (no lost time for commuting, easy to communicate with colleagues electronically, greater ease for employees with children etc.). To the degree this is implemented, this will be a major change for individuals and society. Secondly, the need for travel will be greatly reduced. Meetings that once required an employee to travel one day, meet one day, and travel home the third day will be reduced to a one-hour Zoom meeting, again increasing efficiency and saving companies/universities/government agencies a ton of money.
What's a day at work look like for a Weather Forecaster?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: I think a day at work will more often be a day at home. More people will work from home because it is more efficient as I noted above. For those who go to work away from home, I don't think much will change. They will be "zooming" more and traveling less.
What technical skills for a Weather Forecaster stand out to employers?
Robert Rauber Ph.D.: Employers also look for employees who can communicate well both orally and in writing. Of course, technical expertise in their discipline (e.g. atmospheric science) is important.
Dr. Robert Trapp
Professor, HeadUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Forecasters?
Dr. Robert Trapp: It's likely that there will be an enduring impact, but it's difficult to know exactly what it will be. Obviously, the financial strain on some companies has prevented them to hire new employees. However, we're still seeing advertisements and announcements for jobs within all sectors: there's still a demand for expertise in weather and climate prediction, for example.
What's a day at work look like for a Weather Forecaster?
Dr. Robert Trapp: I've heard from some recent graduates employed in the private sector who are still working remotely. So, lots of virtual meetings instead of face-to-face meetings. Recent graduates employed in the National Weather Service are experiencing a more "normal", in-office work day, which involves generation and communication of weather forecasts, and monitoring of weather hazards and issuances of relevant warnings.
What technical skills for a Weather Forecaster stand out to employers?
Dr. Robert Trapp: Here are two technical skills that apply particularly to the private and government-research sectors: Proficiency in the use of Python and/or R to mine weather and climate datasets for relationships between weather/climate variables. Ability to configure and run weather and climate prediction models.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Weather Forecaster job market given the pandemic?
Sumant Nigam: Directly, the pandemic has increased interest at the intersections of climate and epidemiology, e.g., how temperature and humidity impact virus survivability, people's lifestyle, and disease transmission. Aerosols, tiny particles and droplets suspended in the air, which are widely studied in the context of cloud microphysics, air pollution, and climate impacts, have received a lot of attention lately in studies of virus transmission, including COVID-19.
More broadly, the pandemic has diminished economic activity in certain areas. However, I am not aware of our graduates' suppressed hiring in the public or private sector in meteorological and climate services, including weather, air quality, and climate forecasting. Our doctoral graduates typically seek careers in academia, research laboratories (e.g., NASA, NOAA), and industry (e.g., risk modeling, data analytics, clean energy, sustainability, ESG), with the related demands holding for now.
What skills stand out on Weather Forecaster resumes?
Sumant Nigam: I would think that a resume that conveys strong analytical aptitude and excellent, concise writing skills would be attractive. Our field requires quantitative skills, including mathematical modeling and data analytics, which would be a big plus.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Weather Forecasters to find work opportunities?
Sumant Nigam: It depends both on the graduation level (MS or Ph.D.) and one's expertise. MS students seeking cutting-edge research experience will find ecosystems around large federal laboratories, wherever they are located. Washington DC area and Boulder come readily to mind. I don't believe private sector employment for MS and Ph.D. graduates is as geographically concentrated.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Weather Forecasters in the next 5 years?
Gregory Hakim: Increase. Between climate change, weather forecasting, and new developments in S2S forecasting, atmospheric sciences is a growth industry.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Weather Forecasters in the next 3-5 years?
Gregory Hakim: Statistical post-processing of model simulation data and cheap emulators of those models. "Machine learning" is the recent buzzword for this technology that has been growing in our field for a long time.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Weather Forecaster job market given the pandemic?
Don Berchoff: The Meteorology and Atmospheric Science job market is bright, especially if you have ancillary or secondary skill sets in software engineering, analytics, machine learning, risk management and actuary, and running weather applications and models in the clouds. The private sector market for weather services will grow in size and importance with the introduction of self-driving cars and unmanned piloted air taxis and drones. The more secondary skills scientists have, the more opportunities for jobs and salary growth. Society and businesses are becoming more weather sensitive writ large with high density population centers, autonomy, etc. and this is good for our future job prospects.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Weather Forecasters in the next 3-5 years?
Don Berchoff: Innovative and scalable weather sensor technology to close micro-weather measurement gaps in lowest 3,000 feet of the atmosphere, IoT sensors, that may not provide the most pristine weather data, but contribute to closing operational weather measurement gaps, introduction of quantum computing, more efficient high performance cloud computing, and very sophisticated artificial intelligence and Machine Learning algorithms and tools.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Weather Forecasters?
Shel McGuire: Yes, I believe that there will be an enduring impact on graduates. In meteorology, it is very important for our students to gain experience before either entering the job market or applying to graduate school. With courses going remote, that includes internships at FSU. My students are not able to complete their internships with places such as the National Weather Service and other agencies. In addition, we have a weather-casting studio in our building where the students produce daily weather forecasts, which are broadcast on the FSU station. The broadcasting students have not been able to access the studio, and this will greatly affect their ability to produce the weather-casting tapes that they need to apply for positions this spring when they graduate.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Weather Forecasters to find work opportunities?
Shel McGuire: There does not seem to be a particular area in the United States that is better or worse. Our students who get hired for broadcasting jobs get offers from all over the United States. Our students who go to graduate school also go to a variety of schools across the nation. For the students who have chosen the private sector, they tend to stay in major cities, such as Boston.
How do you envision technology impacting Weather Forecasters in the next 5 years?
Shel McGuire: Since I work as an academic advisor who has a degree in Career Counseling, I mostly work with the students to complete the coursework and to find ways to gain skills that are needed in their field. The students will often take extra coursework in computer science, graphical information systems, and emergency management to complement their degree in meteorology. Computers are definitely used a lot in meteorology, and I am sure advances in computer systems and the ability to manage and collect data will impact the field, but since I am not a meteorologist, it is hard for me to say.