What is common to wearing your favourite white outfit, watching a cricket match between India and Pakistan or washing your piled up laundry? In each case you want to know what the weather will be like on that day. And it is the meteorologist who can tell you about the kind of weather you will have tomorrow or a week from now.

“Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and the oceans. It gives us the information to forecast the weather which affects our daily life,” says Dr Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Calcutta.

Today, it is difficult for us to imagine life without the daily weather bulletin, be it on the radio or on television. Everything that we do is planned around the weather — from whether we take the bus or the metro to office to what we have for dinner (khichuri and papad if it rains). We need meteorologists to tell us when to sow our crops, if the trains will be on time, and whether the plane will take off at all. No flight can take off until it gets a clearance from the weather department. Pilots too must know what sort of weather to expect on their flight paths at least an hour before departure. That is why all airports in the country have their own meteorological offices.

Not only is the weather forecast of interest to the common man, but sectors such as transport, telecommunication and defence rely on it to function smoothly. The Indian farmer too is dependent on the monsoon and so it is very important for him to know in advance the intensity and duration of rainfall expected. That helps him to know when to sow his crops for optimum yield. Meteorologists are also the ones who give warnings about impending natural disasters like cyclones, floods and tsunamis.

So it is but natural that meteorologists are always in great demand. If you are a science graduate interested in the workings of the atmosphere, you could take up a course in meteorology.

Since meteorology is a multi-disciplinary science that involves the principles of maths, physics, chemistry, geology, marine sciences and computer applications, postgraduates and research scholars in the field of physics, mathematics, computer applications and even instrumentation can take up a career in meteorology.

The Indian Meteorological Department is, of course, the largest employer of weathermen. It recruits physics graduates directly through the UPSC exam and then offers them on-the-job training at different levels. The duration of basic training is one year while for the intermediate and the advanced level, the training is for six months and one year, respectively. The department also recruits laterally at the officer level, normally through the Staff Selection Commission Examination.

One can also join the Indian Meteorological Department as a senior observer through the local employment exchange and, sometimes, the department takes in people directly at the local level.

The three main divisions in a meteorological department are research, operational forecasting and teaching or consulting. New employees begin their career as a senior observer, progress to scientific assistant, assistant meteorologists — grade 2 and grade 1, then to grade 2 meteorologists, grade 1 meteorologists, and finally, become the deputy general of meteorology. The pay scales are as per the Fifth Pay Commission for all gazetted officers.

Those interested in meteorology can also find employment with institutes like the Indian Institute of Tropical Management in Pune, which recruits scholars for research purposes. Television news channels also employ forecasters to develop customised predictions. Moreover, public sector organisations like the railways employ meteorologists to handle smoke control, air pollution and fog control. The defence sector also recruits meteorologists for guiding ships and aircraft in adverse conditions.

So what is the life of a meteorologist like? “You have to work round the clock. Since the atmosphere is in a state of constant flux, one cannot afford to miss any recordings,” says Bandyopadhyay. One also has to take great pains with the details and make as accurate a forecast as possible since the information provided affects so many lives. Moreover, a meteorologist has to constantly upgrade his skills and stay abreast of the latest advances in his field.

The major drawback of being a meteorologist is that some predictions do go wrong. Or sometimes, as happened in the case of the tsunami that hit south and southeast Asia in December 2004, the predictions do not materialise at all. Thousands of lives may be lost if meteorologists fail to make the right forecast at the right time. And that is when they face a lot of flak.

On-the-job training apart, you could also opt for a specialised course in meteorology. However, very few Indian universities offer a course in the subject. You can do a postgraduate degree in meteorology only at Andhra University and Cochin University. The University of Pune offers an MSc in climatology and an MTech in atmospheric physics. Punjab University in Patiala, and Bharathiyar University in Coimbatore also offer a one-year diploma course in meteorology. All these courses are open to those with a BSc degree.