Alas, computers have since rendered it and a number of other weather-measuring chores obsolete. Indeed, the ability to analyze information better in order to more accurately forecast weather is what Colby and his 40 weather majors strive to do at the Weather Center in Olney Hall, where he's been teaching weather since 1983. And Mishelle Michaels, who recently left Channel 7 for the Weather Channel, is a visiting instructor, and many students have worked as interns with other meteorologists. Most students choose not to become broadcasters but instead will work for the National Weather Service and private companies that predict weather for agribusiness, airports and highway departments. Senior Anne McWilliams of Concord hopes to land a job studying air pollution or wind dynamics in the air defense industry.
Students become so adept at computer training that some end up in high-tech.
The future looks bright for UMass' Weather Center. Colby didn't cut his teeth on computer-driven forecasting as his students have, but you'd never know it. He's comfortable in the cubbyhole off the lab where five separate computer banks hum in varying musical keys as they collect, sort and display wind speed, humidity, barometric pressure and other data. This is what makes our weather station special. It's all student-run.