Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere.Since weather is everywhere, meteorologists can be found all over the world doing many different jobs.

• Anoperational forecasteranalyzes weather conditions and issues forecasts or alerts the public of severe weather for their area.
• Aresearch meteorologiststudies more specific areas of weather like severe weather or climate change. They can also develop tools like radar or weather models to help other meteorologists in their jobs.
• Ameteorologist in the militarymakes weather observations and forecasts for missions around the world.
• Airlinesuse meteorologists to help pilots know what the weather will be like when they take-off, land and in between.
• Electric companiesask meteorologists if a heat wave is coming so they have enough power ready to run lots of air conditioners.
• Road crewsask meteorologists how much snow might be coming so they can make sure they have enough trucks ready.
• Meteorologists tellfruit and vegetable farmersto turn their sprinklers on when a cold snap is coming because it can help protect crops.
• Meteorologists work withcity managerswhen their town is in the path of a hurricane, if nearby rivers or streams could flood, or if a tornado is coming.
• What if there is a thunderstorm headed for a football stadium full of people? Meteorologists helppeople in charge of stadiums, arenas, shopping malls and hospitalsmake critical safety decisions.
• Radio and television stationsuse meteorologists, both behind the scenes and on the air, to analyze weather data and present it to their audience.
• And, of course we need meteorologists toteachweather in the classroom and train new meteorologists! At colleges, sometimes these teachers can do research too.

In school, meteorologists studied a lot of math and science. In college: more math, more science, and even some engineering and computer programming classes are required.