Meteorologist
What the work is
Studies the physics and dynamics of the atmosphere to increase understanding of weather and climate, and to forecast changes in the weather and long-term climatic trends.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Analyses and interprets weather data gathered from different sources such as meteorological stations, radars and satellite imagery
- Studies and analyses historical weather patterns to understand long-term trends and predict future climate scenarios
- Provides short to medium-term weather forecasts to the general public
- Studies the impact of weather on the environment and effects of human activity on the climate
- Develops, tests and improves mathematical and computer models of the weather and climate
- Prepares and issues warnings for atmospheric phenomena such as cyclones, storms, floods or other hazards to life and property
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a conservation studio for objects, a weather forecasting centre and a physics laboratory. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A faded banner is stabilised and the colours come back enough to read its story
- Your forecast gives a town enough warning to prepare, and they do
- An experiment that has failed for months finally gives a clean, surprising result
Hard days
- A forecast you agonised over turns out wrong and the public remembers
- An object arrives in worse shape than anyone told you
- Months of careful work that produces a result of no change at all
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 244932, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.