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Weather observer education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a weather observer. Weather observers usually study meteorology, business, or geography. 56% of weather observers hold a bachelor's degree, and 20% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 418 real weather observer resumes to see exactly what weather observer education sections show.
The most common colleges for weather observers are the Northern Illinois University and the Northern Illinois University.
There are also many online weather observer courses to help get the education required to be a weather observer.
There are certain weather observer certifications that you should consider. These weather observer certifications include Certified Weather Observer and Operator Certification.
What education do you need to become a weather observer?
What degree do you need to be a weather observer?
- Bachelor's, 56%
- Associate, 20%
- High School Diploma, 12%
- Master's, 7%
- Other Degrees, 5%
What should I major in to become a weather observer?
- Meteorology, 32%
- Business, 11%
- Geography, 7%
- General Studies, 6%
- Other Majors, 44%
Most common colleges for weather observers
| Weather observer common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Northern Illinois University | 12.28% |
| University of Phoenix | 8.77% |
| Thomas Edison State University | 7.02% |
| Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | 7.02% |
| Ashford University | 7.02% |
Best majors for weather observers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meteorology | 32.5% |
| 2 | Business | 10.6% |
| 3 | Geography | 7.3% |
| 4 | General Studies | 6.0% |
| 5 | Aviation | 5.3% |
Best colleges for weather observers
The best colleges for weather observers are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and New York University.
A weather observer with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for weather observers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become weather observers.
1. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,625
Enrollment
17,407
2. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
3. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$15,094
Enrollment
32,974
4. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
5. SUNY at Albany
Albany, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$10,011
Enrollment
13,434
6. SUNY Maritime College
Throggs Neck, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,283
Enrollment
1,581
7. SUNY College at Oswego
Oswego, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,440
Enrollment
7,039
8. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
9. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
10. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,896
Enrollment
15,529
20 best online courses for weather observers
Advertising disclosure
1. Build a Website using an API with HTML, JavaScript, and JSON
In this project, you’ll support a European travel agency’s effort to increase booking by building a webpage that provides visitors with a 7-day weather forecast for major European cities. Accomplishing this task will require you to retrieve real-time weather data from an external service. In creating the webpage, you’ll request, process, and present the weather data using HTML, JavaScript, and JSON. There isn’t just one right approach or solution in this scenario, which means you can create a...
2. Use the Apache Spark Structured Streaming API with MongoDB
By the end of this project, you will use the Apache Spark Structured Streaming API with Python to stream data from two different sources, store a dataset in the MongoDB database, and join two datasets. The Apache Spark Structured Streaming API is used to continuously stream data from various sources including the file system or a TCP/IP socket. One application is to continuously capture data from weather stations for historical purposes...
3. Build a Weather App With Python and Django
Learn API Driven Web Development With Django and Python!...
4. Airline Operations: Flight Planning and Flight Dispatch
Airline Operations: Master the essentials of aviation - aircraft operational control and dispatch...
5. Build a Full-Stack Server for API Requests - NodeJS and Pug
By the end of this project, you will create a website which reports the weather for a specific city. We will learn how to use NodeJS to send API requests to Accuweather, and Pug and CSS to present the weather to the users.. We will use VSCode throughout this course. Building a full-stack website is a highly sought after skillset and this course is a great way to get started by building a simple weather website. This guided project is for anyone who is comfortable with JavaScript and has some...
6. Processing Data with Python
Processing data is used in virtually every field these days. It is used for analyzing web traffic to determine personal preferences, gathering scientific data for biological analysis, analyzing weather patterns, business practices, and on. Data can take on many different forms and come from many different sources. Python is an open-source (free) programming language that is used in web programming, data science, artificial intelligence, and many scientific applications. It has libraries that...
7. R Programming: Advanced Analytics In R For Data Science
Take Your R & R Studio Skills To The Next Level. Data Analytics, Data Science, Statistical Analysis in Business, GGPlot2...
8. Part 1 FAA Private Pilot Ground School (Part 61)
Introduction to flight training, Aircraft Structure, Systems and Flight Instruments...
9. Strategies for winning. Meteorology in a round the world regatta
In this course you can learn about the mechanics of global weather, the foundations of ocean meteorology, predictive modeling and how sailors receive data via satellite and use high-performance navigation software. This course looks at oceanic meteorology and climatology through the lens of the sport of sailing. You will gain a basic knowledge of meteorology needed by sailors to take part in a regatta such as the Barcelona World Race, the only double-handed, round the world regatta with no...
10. Exploratory Data Analysis with MATLAB
In this course, you will learn to think like a data scientist and ask questions of your data. You will use interactive features in MATLAB to extract subsets of data and to compute statistics on groups of related data. You will learn to use MATLAB to automatically generate code so you can learn syntax as you explore. You will also use interactive documents, called live scripts, to capture the steps of your analysis, communicate the results, and provide interactive controls allowing others to...
11. Introduction to Machine Learning for Data Science
A primer on Machine Learning for Data Science. Revealed for everyday people, by the Backyard Data Scientist...
12. Flutter Bloc Essential Course (English)
(cover version 8.0) Learn and practice the concept of state management using Flutter Bloc, a Flutter state management so...
13. Monitoring and Observability for Development and DevOps
Application developers and DevOps professionals must ensure their app works at its best. However, these app may need help with bugs, slow speed, or subpar performance. Professionals need to monitor and observe its performance continually. Application monitoring involves identifying, measuring, and evaluating the effectiveness of an application. On the other hand, Observability refers to how well an app can be monitored by the data obtained from monitoring. Both monitoring and observability are...
14. Creating a Visual Tasks Guide with Microsoft PowerPoint
By the end of this project, you will have created a Visual Tasks Guide to use with your students. As teachers, we are always looking for ways to help our students grow. For students with special needs or students who need organizational support, completing tasks in the correct order can be a challenge. By providing a visual guide, students are able to gain independence as they practice tasks such as dressing for the weather or getting ready for school...
15. Jupyter Notebook for Data Science
Collaborate, create interactive visualizations, and manipulate big data in the language of your choice...
16. The Complete Android 12 & Kotlin Development Masterclass
Learn Android 12 App Development From Beginner to Advanced Developer. Build Apps like Trello, 7Min Workout, Weather App...
17. Predictive Modelling with Azure Machine Learning Studio
In this project, we will use Azure Machine Learning Studio to build a predictive model without writing a single line of code! Specifically, we will predict flight delays using weather data provided by the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). You will be provided with instructions on how to set up your Azure Machine Learning account with $200 worth of free credit to get started with running your experiments! This course runs on...
18. Mastering Data Science and Machine Learning Fundamentals
Data Science & Machine Learning- Data Science, Machine Learning, Regression, Classification and Clustering [THEORY ONLY]...
19. SwiftUI - Declarative Interfaces for any Apple Device
Updated to include Swift 2.0 controls - Includes State, Binding, Observable Object, MVVM, Web API, Core Data, Core ML...
20. RxJS 7 and Observables: Introduction
Learn how Observables work and behave in an easy to understand step-by-step way!...
Top 10 most affordable universities for weather observers
The most affordable schools for weather observers are SUNY Farmingdale, california state university - bakersfield, and baruch college of the city university of new york.
If the best universities for weather observers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for weather observers.
1. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
2. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
3. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
4. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
5. City College of New York of the City University of New York, The
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,140
Cost of attendance
14,430
6. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
7. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
8. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Cost of attendance
22,430
9. SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Utica, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,238
Cost of attendance
21,567
10. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for weather observers
The hardest universities for weather observers to get into are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and New York University.
Some great schools for weather observers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for weather observers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
3. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
5. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
6. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,471
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
Admissions rate
23%
SAT average
1,434
9. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,448
10. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,407
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for weather observers
The easiest schools for weather observers to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, notre dame de namur university, and university of the incarnate word.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a weather observer without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for weather observers.
1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
2. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
3. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
4. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
5. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
6. LIM College
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
1,061
7. Presentation College
Aberdeen, SD • Private
Admissions rate
97%
SAT average
1,050
8. Nyack College
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
999
9. Oregon Institute of Technology
Klamath Falls, OR • Private
Admissions rate
96%
SAT average
1,139
10. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
Average weather observer salary by education level
| Weather observer education level | Weather observer salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $52,285 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $42,736 |
| Doctorate Degree | $63,406 |
Weather observer education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025