Issued on the 20th of March, 2026 -
As we move into the Spring, a time of volatility in the Northern Hemisphere, as most meteorologists know from experience, the weather models are not always that great. The NAM is notorious in the US for busting on temperatures. The GFS can go way too high. Then you throw in extreme conditions like this past Monday, where the models (all of them) missed the forecast in western Kansas by almost 20 degrees F. A terrible forecast. Yet it is in these periods of time that you, as a meteorologist, can tap into your own experience and skills to make an accurate forecast, regardless of the models. This is a time when you want to rely on pattern recognition, forecast soundings, and boundary layer conditions to make a forecast that matters and provides the information your clients need.
As my coaching clients are learning, while many in the meteorology industry seemingly look down on hand analysis, especially after college, the best meteorologists I have worked for in my career actively promote this as a starting point to making good forecasts. When you understand what is happening in the atmosphere, including whether the model is actually initializing correctly, you can make really good forecasts.
United States Jobs
Industry: Energy
Title: Wildfire Analyst
Company: Dominion Energy
Work Location: Richmond, VA
Pay: None Given
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree:
- Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Sciences, Forestry or Fire Science.
Years of Experience: 3+ years of experience in meteorology, fire weather forecasting, emergency management, or environmental science.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Working knowledge of fire weather indices (e.g., Haines Index, ERC, Fosberg Index), fuels, and topographic influences on fire behavior.
- Experience using tools such as the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS), WIMS, or other fire modeling platforms.
Additional Skills:
- Communicate the weather to a variety of audiences through written and verbal formats, including presentations, and in active fire situations.
- Ability to handle stress in active emergency management and active fire situations while continuing to provide actionable insights to different people in the office and in the field.
- Work as a self-starter and take new ideas from design to implementation at an efficient pace.
Who Should Apply?
This would be a great position for people who have a background in wildfires or emergency management, and maybe even if you live in the Dominion footprint and understand the microclimates of that region.
The other type of person who would be good in this role would be the fast-learner, who has a forecast background and would like to work in energy, and especially wildfire meteorology. This means you would learn the wildfire-specific duties very quickly.
About the Location
Richmond may not get the recognition of other big cities to the North, but the location is great for both outdoor, cultural, and historical attractions, and the climate is pretty great, too.
Washington, D.C. is just to the North, the Shenandoah Mountains and Blue Ridge Parkway are not very far northwest, and the beach near Norfolk and on the Delmarva are a close day trip to the East.
Industry: Operational Meteorology
Title: Associate Weather Risk Analyst
Company: DTN
Work Location: Bloomington, MN (Minneapolis)
Pay: $40,500 - $54,000 USD per year
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree:
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Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, or a related field.
Years of Experience: None given.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
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You must reside in or relocate to Minnesota for this role.
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Strong synoptic analysis and forecasting skills.
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Ability to work rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
Additional Skills:
- Communicate the weather to a variety of audiences through written and verbal formats.
- Ability to handle stress while continuing to provide actionable insights to different types of clients.
Who Should Apply?
If you are entry-level or early career, this is your chance. This company does forecasting at a high level for multiple industries worldwide. This means you will get a lot of experience in different areas, but how much you get is up to you. You often need to take the initiative, using your self-motivation to learn as much as possible when given the opportunity.
About the Location
Obviously, you know as a meteorologist that Minnesota is cold in the Winter and much of the Spring. Minnesota is a tall state, at a northern latitude for the United States, and in the south, there are farms and wind turbines. In the middle are pine trees, lakes, and Minneapolis. Western Minnesota is a really great location to chase tornadoes. Northern Minnesota has cliffs on Lake Superior and waterfalls, and is a gateway to the Boundary Waters that extend into Canada.
I've only actually been to Minneapolis one time, and it was a super long time ago for a job interview with Northwest Airlines, which has since merged with Delta. However, while I was there, I visited the Mall of America, and it is a pretty big structure with roller coasters inside. During good weather, if you have kids, a little to the east is the Wisconsin Dells, which is possibly the biggest collection of amusement parks in the World.
Industry: Data
Title: Drone Flight Specialist
Company: Meteomatics
Work Location: Oklahoma City, OK (company is based in Switzerland)
Pay: None Given
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree: None listed, but a BS in Meteorology might help.
Certifications: Valid drone pilot certifications (FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate, BVLOS, or equivalent)
Years of Experience: None given.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Technical Expertise: Strong understanding of UAV technology, flight control systems, and drone maintenance.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Knowledge of local and international aviation regulations (e.g., FAA, or other relevant authorities).
- Travel: Willingness to travel domestically or internationally, depending on operational needs, with a training period in Switzerland of 1 - 3 months.
- Working permit: A U.S. working permit is essential
Additional Skills:
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Communication: Excellent communication skills and willingness to coordinate with stakeholders and authorities. Business fluent in English (additional languages are a plus). Leadership skills are beneficial.
Who Should Apply?
If you know how to fly a drone and you understand the rules you should apply. This is a very specific type of position for the right person. I would say you must understand what this company is selling and why the need is there for drone pilots and operations. You can use a drone for all kinds of things around weather, such as wind turbine inspection or storm damage.
About the Location
Oklahoma City is great for not just chasing tornadoes but letting the tornadoes come to you. They have hot summers, cold winters with occasional snow. It's not a huge city, but there are professional sports and museums, and generally outdoor activities such as lakes and a tiny mountain range to the south called the Arbuckle Mountains.
Posting Closing Date: 03/23/2026
Industry: Emergency Management
Title: Assistant State Meteorologist
Company: State of Florida
Work Location: Tallahassee, FL
Pay: $55,163 USD per year
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree: A bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, or a related Earth Science field from an accredited university or college.
Years of Experience: None given.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Knowledge of the terminology and principles of meteorology and the ability to provide technical meteorological support to agency managers and staff.
- Skill at meteorological data analysis from National Weather Service providers, including but not limited to, National Weather Service offices, National Hurricane Center, and the Storm Prediction Center.
- Knowledge of weather-related threats that impact Florida and an ability to analyze meteorological data to determine their relative threat daily.
- Ability to research, prepare, and present reports, briefings, and technical programmatic information regarding meteorological data and forecasts to government officials, often with little to no notice.
Additional Skills:
- Ability to synthesize technical meteorological data and communicate effectively with others, particularly for a non-meteorological audience, both verbally and in writing.
- Ability to work in an operational mode to provide critical weather-related data to other state/local government entities, including working nontraditional hours during weather events.
Who Should Apply?
This position leans toward emergency management, where your role is to deliver information during severe or extreme weather events. You will have to make the forecast to understand when the threat is elevated and then communicate to multiple people what will happen with the storm.
Honestly, I think a broadcast background would do very well in this role, or someone who has a background in communicating clearly to an audience, working crazy hours, and providing important information during severe weather.
About the Location
Hot, humid, really close to the ocean and the beach, and in an area that can see not tropical systems, but tornadoes, sometimes even cold temperatures. Similarly close to natural springs in northern Florida with clear water. A great college sports town, but close enough to Jacksonville or even Orlando if you need a bigger city.
International Jobs
Post Closing Date: 26/03/2026
Industry: Emergency Management / Forecasting / Data
Title: Meteorologist
Company: UNDP - United Nations Development Program
Work Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Pay: None given
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree: A bachelor’s degree in Meteorology, Water Resources Management, Environmental Science, or related fields.
Years of Experience: 7 years with no degree!!! or 4 years with a Bachelor's.
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
- Experience in installing and maintaining meteorological equipment like RWIS.
- Knowledge of meteorological analysis and forecasting methods.
- Experience in multi-hazard early warning systems.
- Knowledge of environmental and climate change issues in Nepal, including Glacial Lake Outburst Floods or GLOFs and Eco-DRR.
- Experience in producing Terms of Reference (ToR).
- Fluency in English and Nepali.
Additional Skills:
- Experience with climate modeling and data management.
- Experience with WMO standards and regional climate centers.
- Experience with UNDP, GCF, or other donor-funded projects.
Who Should Apply?
This is a really fascinating and important role, and I would love for everyone to be able to apply, but you must speak Nepali, and so this will likely reduce the number of people by quite a bit. The role is a combination of emergency management, siting and installing weather stations to observe lake level conditions, and making forecasts of when flooding may be an issue, likely both short and long-range forecasts.
Industry: Operational Meteorologist / Leadership
Title: Assistant Meteorologist
Company: Ubimet
Work Location: Vienna, Austria
Pay: Minimum 3,500 euros per month
Benefits: See Job Listing
Degree: A degree in Atmospheric Science, Physics, Scientific Computing, or a related field
Years of Experience: 3-5 years of experience
Key Skills or Knowledge: (most important to the company)
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Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex meteorological model outputs and data
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Excellent scientific intuition and a willingness to challenge existing assumptions
Additional Skills:
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Strong presentation skills and confidence in client-facing settings
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A high level of organization, reliability, and the ability to manage multiple tasks and stakeholders
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A proactive mindset and a pragmatic, structured approach to problem-solving
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Excellent communication skills in English; German language skills are a plus
Who Should Apply?
I continue to think this is a great role for a mid to senior-level meteorologist if you want to live in the EU and you want to work in a leadership role. The company is well established and is a meteorology company at its core. If you are already in Europe or want to relocate there, then this would be a great position.
About the Location
As an outdoors person, living at the base of the Austrian Alps would be phenomenal. However, if the outdoors is not what you enjoy, the actual city of Vienna is, from what I've heard, a fun city to explore.
Final Thoughts
There are a ton of non-forecasting, high-paying jobs where you label model data. This, as one LinkedIn post said, is "glorified data entry". It's not that you shouldn't take the job, but just know what you are applying for, that it likely is not long-term, and will not lead you on to better things, at least as a forecaster.
Now, that being said, there are some really good jobs right now, from the wildfire job at Dominion to getting your start with a global company, DTN. Remember, that while I post a few jobs on the Friday Job Report, there are often many more.
If you need help learning where to find jobs, how to interview, what to expect on forecast tests, or even how to forecast specific types of weather, please reach out and schedule a time to talk.
Good luck!
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