A growing number of private firms provide information to media outlets, to businesses such as utilities and agriculture, and to online customers. You get the chance to see the world, since jobs are available in many places and research can include travel. There is excitement in doing cutting-edge research on such topics as climate change. Weather and climate will always be around, so there's little chance of an industry-wide collapse. Jeff Ferguson, of the Weather Underground, an on-line provider of weather data, says he loves the opportunity to do work that almost everyone is interested in.
Many jobs can involve night, weekend and holiday work, especially during weather emergencies.
Some jobs are in remote areas. Automation is a threat to some data collecting jobs. As National Weather Service jobs decline slightly because of budget cuts, positions in private firms are rapidly expanding. Commodity investors, transportation and construction firms and many other businesses are expected to continue to want more frequent, thorough and accurate data and predictions. Overall, steady growth in the 7,500 or so jobs is predicted over the next 10 years.