So You Wanna Be a Weathercaster

Big winter storm hits Ohio. What does that mean to a TV weathercaster? A much larger and more important role to play in the evening’s newscast. As I sat watching the nerdy, gayish guy do his spiel, I thought, what does one have to do to become a TV weathercaster? What qualifications do you have to have? What’s the path to weather greatness?

So, here goes…

Apparently, you don’t have to have any real qualifications. Anyone with the resources to make an audition tape can potentially talk weather on the local news. Just don’t forget to prove to them that you can do both sunshine and rain. If you can impress them with your awesome forecasting style and quirky good looks, you too can become the next… hm, hold on… trying to come up with a weather person who isn’t a complete douche. Nevermind. If weather is your thing, you too can become successful at the lamest job on television.

While education isn’t as necessary to become a weatherman as a fab suit and clever climate puns, many weather douches… er, casters… do in fact hold undergrad degrees in meteorology. Apparently, these exist. Some universities even have broadcast meteorology programs. Of course, then you have to be that person who actually grew up thinking “I want to do the weather”.

Anyway, it’s really just that simple, other than the fact that it’s extremely competitive, which means you weren’t the only one watching the Weather Channel with big, saucer eyes as a child. Oh, and most entry-level positions are part-time and pay like fifteen bucks an hour. Expect around twenty grand a year to start out.

Now might be the time to consider skipping the college loan payments and just get a job at Starbucks instead.

Of course, like most jobs, there is room to grow and work your way up. Just try not to get blown away by a tornado first.