Terpeast

Finally getting dumped on now. Before cells were firing up north east west south of me doing their best to avoid my spot. But now, all good. 

Not one drop imby so far. Seems to be a recurring theme this summer. 

1 hour ago, snowman19 said:

The 40’s-50’s winters were great out west, the 60’s-70’s winters were epic for the east coast, then came 1979-1992, which was probably the worst 13 year period in history for snow on the east coast, even up in the NYC metro and New England….

Was 1979-1992 really that bad? Not sure if you’re talking NYC north, but in the mid-atlantic we had PD1, 83 and 87. Grew up with those and had plenty of fun as a kid. Sure, we had lots of duds in between those winters but that’s par for the course around here. 

20 hours ago, 40/70 Benchmark said:

That Canadian graphic screams +NAO to me...no shock there.

And the pacific doesn’t look good to me either. Pretty grim if the canadian is correct. 

Decent rain here in Vienna/Fairfax. 

4 hours ago, snowman19 said:

This has low ACE Atlantic hurricane season written all over it: 

 

Interesting. I also read somewhere that western pacific typhoon ACE has a more significant but inverse correlation with US winter temps than the atlantic. Can't find the link though.

19 minutes ago, leesburg 04 said:

welcome back, sadly to say Ji turned Loudoun county into the sleet/mixed event capital of the region....hopefully you bring some luck back but according to PSU you timed your move back at the wrong time

Yeah, it seems this region had a tough stretch lately and a blockbuster is probably too much to ask for during a nina (which appears likely this winter). Hopefully my weenieism brings some luck back though!

Terpeast is back!

Don’t know if anyone remembers (probably not) but I was active here between 2002 and 2010 till I moved away and then lived overseas for a while. 

I’ve still lurked here from time to time, and am familiar with mappy, stormtracker, Matt, psuhoffman, Chuck, and of course, Ji and Jebman (plus many others - too many to name).

Now I just recently moved back, offered on a house and will be closing on it next week. Will be living in Ashburn off the greenway towards Leesburg.

Hoping to cash in on some decent snows so my kid and I can enjoy them together! 

Happy to be back!

If the Euro and NAM are in agreement, as a met, you don't want to go against them.

Blossoming slug of moisture in WV loop in the last 6 hours taking aim at sne

http://www.weather.gov/satellite#wv(time sensitive)

And take time lapse vids, please

I switched my reservation to Mansfield MA lets hope the EURO is righr

If not for my obligations this week, I would have probably flown up and stayed in the same hotel as you

This thread is very insightful and reinforces what I already believed. I was considering majoring in Meteorology at one point in High School but am now working towards a BA in Information Technology. A minor in mathematics or chemistry would be useful because I am interested in Environmental Science as well. There is probably a difference between a "hobby" and an "interest", and making a hobby out of a career doesn't make any sense to me.

Good luck to everyone who is majoring in meteorology.

That's an excellent way to go. Good luck.

Terpeast,

I very much didn't want to create the impression that it is easy to move from school into the workforce for meteorology majors and apologize if I have created such an impression. I do remember the challenges you faced a few years back, as the job market was rapidly deteriorating. I believed then and still do that you deserved better and that any employer would be fortunate to have you on board. I hope all is going well for you.

No need to apologize Don, you didn't create that impression to me, so no worries. Things are going well on my end, and I'm grateful to be where I am now. I do remember my struggles a few years back quite vividly, however... so the tone of some of my posts on here may have been a bit of sour grapes on my part. Anyway, thanks Don, and I hope you're also doing well.

There are no guarantees on anything in life.

Folks don't need an IT degree alongside a met degree to get a met job That may have helped in your case...but it is false logic to believe that is needed in all cases. I'd even venture a guess that the majority of professional mets don't have an IT degree or some other degree listed on their resumes.

Of course they don't NEED an IT degree along with a met degree, but they DO need marketable skills outside of what they learned in the met program. Could be engineering, risk management, finance, etc. However, I would say that IT should be pretty high on that list.

Read through this thread some more. I'm sorry, but here's the bitter truth: even if you get the perfect grades, graduate from a great met school, do internships, make connections, and do all the right things - it's STILL no guarantee that you'll get the job you want.

The ONLY reason I have the job I have today is that IT degree (bachelors) listed on my resume. Plus dumb luck. If a met degree was all I had, I'd still be living with my parents. Guaranteed.

If you really want to look into what kinds of private sector jobs are being offered, http://www.nwas.org/jobs.php is a really good place to start. (EDIT: It looks like that will be going to a paid service in January, so get your looking in now!)

Another good site is the AMS jobs page: http://careercenter....rch_results.cfm

Those are good sites to look for met jobs. I found mine through the Penn State jobs site (forgot the link).

the MIC told me two Ph.D's applied for the intern opening!

That doesn't surprise me. I actually started my PhD program before landing the job I have now. I did apply to intern NWS positions while I was a "PhD" student.

FWIW to those who are looking... I got a full-time entry level position last in Feb. 2010. I graduated with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science and minors in Math and Comp. Sci. in May 2009, and I spent one semester of graduate school in Fall 2009. I had the summer internship with the NWS, a summer research job in meteorology amongst a few other things. Having good communication skills is also very important in this industry. Before I got this job, I had had interviews with 4 other companies and could have had one with a 6th interview with another company, and all of those took place between October and January.

Get good grades, diversify yourself, and get as much experience as you can.

You were one of the few lucky ones. From what I gather, it only took you 5 months to get a job, and that's during the worst recession since 1930s. It took me 2 whole years to find a private sector job that pays well, and that was with a masters degree in met and a bachelors in IT... before the recession started. It's BRUTAL out there. Good grades and experience are not going to be enough. You're right on diversifying yourself - that will get you through the door if you have good computer skills, engineering skills, finance skills, or ______ skills that the company in question is looking for.

I can empathize with the poster because I've had two years of frustrating underemployment while looking for a NWS job through USAJOBS (horrible horrible system) and other weather related jobs throughout the country. I finally landed a job in the wind energy industry in Texas, so I'm happy and extremely grateful.

If you want to work in the renewable energy industry, that could be a good way to go. Might want to consider environmental science if not meteorology, and take some engineering or computer programming classes as well.

One of the greatest storms I've experienced, the other being the blizzard of 1996. I changed my flight plans in the last minute and made it just in time for the storm.