Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Weather Program Assistant

🎯 Role Definition

This role requires a proactive Weather Program Assistant to support a multi-faceted weather program that includes operational forecasting support, observation network management, data quality assurance, stakeholder communication, and public outreach. The Weather Program Assistant will work closely with meteorologists, program managers, emergency management partners, and data engineers to ensure accurate, timely weather information and to maintain the reliability of observational systems and derived datasets. Strong attention to detail, technical competence with meteorological tools, and excellent communication skills are required.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Weather Observer / Meteorological Technician
Climate or Hydrometeorological Intern
Field Data Technician supporting observation networks

Advancement To:

Operational Meteorologist / Forecasting Specialist
Weather Program Coordinator / Manager
Data Analyst for Climate & Weather Programs

Lateral Moves:

GIS Specialist (Meteorology focus)
Emergency Management Liaison (Weather Desk)
Remote Sensing Analyst

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Support daily operational forecasting by compiling, synthesizing, and quality-checking model guidance, surface and upper-air observations, radar and satellite imagery, and local climatology to produce briefing materials and forecast support products for meteorologists and decision-makers.
Maintain and operate surface observation networks (e.g., ASOS/AWOS, mesonets, coastal buoys) including scheduled inspections, sensor calibrations, field repairs coordination, log maintenance, and procurement coordination to ensure uninterrupted data flow.
Perform routine and event-driven quality control (QA/QC) on observational datasets (surface, marine, radiosonde, and remote sensing) using automated and manual techniques to identify and correct spurious values, instrument drift, and metadata inconsistencies.
Prepare and deliver clear, audience-appropriate weather briefings for internal teams, emergency management partners, public safety officials, and stakeholders during routine operations and hazardous weather events.
Monitor severe weather parameters (e.g., convective indices, shear profiles, precipitation rates, hydrologic impacts) and assist in the preparation of watches, warnings, and impact statements in coordination with meteorologists and communications staff.
Assist in the execution and documentation of field campaigns and deployment of portable observing systems (e.g., mobile mesonets, portable weather stations, radiosonde launches), including site selection, logistics, safety planning, and data management.
Aggregate, analyze, and visualize meteorological and hydrological data to create decision-support products (maps, time series, dashboards) for partners and the public using tools such as Python, R, GIS, and data visualization platforms.
Maintain, update, and document standard operating procedures (SOPs), instrument maintenance logs, calibration records, and data processing workflows to meet organizational, state, or federal reporting requirements.
Coordinate with federal, state, and local weather entities (e.g., NWS WFOs, NOAA labs, university partners) to share observation metadata, outage reports, and data quality notes and to align program procedures with national operational standards.
Respond to observation outages and data anomalies by troubleshooting telemetry and communications (cellular, satellite, radio modems), coordinating vendor repairs, and rapidly re-establishing data feeds for continuity of operations.
Manage and curate historical and near-real-time datasets used for project analyses and forecasting, including ingestion pipelines, metadata tagging, backup protocols, and provenance documentation.
Produce public-facing content such as social media updates, blog posts, and web briefings that translate technical meteorological information into actionable guidance for non-technical audiences during weather events.
Support testing, evaluation, and user feedback for operational tools (e.g., AWIPS, private forecast software, decision support tools) and participate in user acceptance testing and training rollouts.
Assist with the generation of grant reports, technical summaries, and funding proposals by preparing data extracts, figures, and narrative describing program performance, observation uptime, and impacts on forecast quality.
Provide on-call shift support during nights, weekends, and high-impact events, maintaining situational awareness, escalating issues to on-call meteorologists, and documenting event logs and lessons learned.
Participate in interdisciplinary planning for flood, wildfire, coastal, and severe-weather risk reduction projects by contributing meteorological expertise to impact assessments and community resilience activities.
Lead quality assurance reviews and audits of automated data processing scripts and ETL workflows to ensure reproducible, documented, and reliable data products for operational use.
Train, mentor, and supervise junior technicians and interns in observation network maintenance, data quality control procedures, and basic meteorological interpretation to build team capacity.
Maintain safety and compliance for field operations by enforcing weather-safe work procedures, coordinating with safety officers for field deployments, and documenting near-miss or incident reports.
Coordinate sensor procurement, spare parts inventory, and vendor communications for observational hardware, ensuring compatibility with telemetry systems and minimizing mean time to repair.
Implement and maintain GIS layers for observation sites, sensor footprints, and impact zones to support situational awareness products and stakeholder briefings.
Compile post-event documentation and after-action reports summarizing observational performance, forecast impacts, communications effectiveness, and recommendations for program improvements.
Facilitate stakeholder workshops and training sessions to improve partner understanding of observational products, interpretation of weather guidance, and appropriate response actions during high-impact weather.
Assist in developing and maintaining automated alerting systems and threshold-based notifications for stakeholders, ensuring accurate triggers, message clarity, and distribution list currency.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Maintain and update public-facing observation status dashboards and uptime trackers.
Support community outreach events, school visits, and educational activities to promote weather safety and observation literacy.
Assist with budget tracking and procurement paperwork related to weather sensors, telemetry services, and field supplies.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Operational meteorology fundamentals: understanding of synoptic and mesoscale processes, boundary layer dynamics, convective initiation, and hydrometeorology.
Experience with AWIPS, NWS forecast office systems, or equivalent operational forecast workstations and decision support tools.
Hands-on experience maintaining meteorological instrumentation (temperature sensors, anemometers, barometers, rain gauges, pyranometers) and routine calibration procedures.
Proficiency with data analysis languages and tools such as Python (pandas, xarray, matplotlib), R, or MATLAB for data processing, QC, and visualization.
SQL experience for querying and managing time-series weather and observational databases.
Familiarity with remote sensing and radar interpretation (NEXRAD, dual-pol, reflectivity/velocity products) and satellite imagery fundamentals.
GIS competency (ArcGIS, QGIS) for mapping observation sites, impact areas, and spatial analysis of weather hazards.
Experience with telemetry systems and communications (cellular routers, satellite telemetry, radio modems, FTP/SFTP data feeds) and basic network troubleshooting.
Knowledge of radiosonde/upper-air operations, buoy/marine sensor networks, and coastal observation systems.
Experience with automated QA/QC tools and techniques for time-series environmental data, including outlier detection and gap-filling strategies.
Familiarity with version control (Git) and reproducible workflow practices for scripts and documentation.
Ability to produce and maintain technical documentation, SOPs, and instrumentation manuals.
Experience with data visualization and dashboarding tools (Tableau, Power BI, Grafana, or custom web dashboards).
Basic understanding of emergency management frameworks (ICS/NIMS) and experience coordinating with emergency response organizations during weather incidents.
Working knowledge of NOAA/NWS data formats, metadata standards, and data dissemination practices.

Soft Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate technical meteorological information into clear, actionable messages for diverse audiences.
Strong attention to detail and commitment to data quality, reproducibility, and clear documentation.
Proven ability to prioritize tasks, manage multiple concurrent projects, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced operational environment.
Collaborative team player who can work across technical and non-technical groups and build productive relationships with partners and vendors.
Problem-solving mindset with resourcefulness to troubleshoot field equipment, data pipelines, and software issues under time pressure.
Customer-service orientation with experience supporting emergency managers, partner agencies, and the public.
Flexibility and resilience to adapt to shifting schedules, on-call rotations, and weather-driven operational demands.
Training and mentorship skills to onboard new staff and to present concepts at workshops and public events.
Ethical data stewardship and respect for privacy and security practices when handling observational and partner data.
Initiative to identify program improvements, propose solutions, and lead small-scale implementation efforts.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Associate's degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Science, Geoscience, or a closely related technical field with relevant operational experience.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Physical Geography, Environmental Data Science, or a related STEM discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Meteorology / Atmospheric Science
Hydrology / Hydrometeorology
Environmental Science / Geoscience
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Data Science / Computer Science with environmental applications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–5 years of relevant experience supporting weather operations, observation networks, or meteorological data management.

Preferred:

2–4 years of hands-on experience with observation network maintenance, QA/QC of meteorological datasets, operational forecast support, or field deployments.
Demonstrated experience using AWIPS or comparable operational forecasting systems, and working directly with NWS, NOAA, university, or state partner programs.