A shout-out to Dr. George Fischbeck.
Was disappointed to see a bunch of “weather guys” here in San Antonio have Mississippi State on their resume. One guy had a Masters from MSU! Sigh. Sounds like the educational path for a bunch of these guys was J-school, then a little finishing at MSU to get into the Weather Guy World.
Then again, San Antonio doesn’t have much weather to speak of…if I lived in Tornado Alley or Hurricane Country I’d be damn sure to get my weather from a guy with a real degree.
I just checked one of our TV stations
Dan attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he studied Meteorology. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology in 1981
Nick attended UW-Madison and graduated in May 2007 with his degree in Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. In June 2009, he earned the Certified Broadcast Designation by the American Meteorological Society for scientific competence and effective communication skills in his weather presentations, a designation shared by few in the broadcast meteorology field.
Alex enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, obtaining his Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences degree in 2008
Whats the difference between “Meteorology” and “Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences”?
Brian
I assume they just renamed the department sometime between the 1981 and the early 1990s when I was at Madison and it was called A&OS.
A&OS Weather & Climate 100 was the easiest class I took at Madison…but the serious Major orientated classes aren’t jokes.
There is no difference. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences is the department that gives the degree. Your focus may be on meteorology or climatology or oceanic sciences or remote sensing, but they all get the degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic sciences. Your guy is legit. The big programs in meteorology are Wisconsin, Penn State, Oklahoma, Colorado State, among others.
Lamar Mundane, BS Meteorlogy, University of Wisconsin.
I took Meteorology 100 at UW-Madison during my first semester there (fall of '83). As a weather geek from a young age, I agree, it was probably the easiest class I ever took (though it was still a lot of fun). I overslept on the morning of the final exam, arrived in the exam room 10 minutes after the test started…and still finished my test before anyone else in the room (and aced it). 
This tale should probably be in MPSIMS, but since I am the OP, I’ll add it to this thread. It is he reason I was interested in the first place.
In 1945 when I first went into the Army, after basic training I was sent to meteorology school at Chanute Field in Illinois. As an enlisted man, we were going to be “weather observers” upon graduation. It was a pretty intensive course, but most interesting.
As it progressed, I would write now and then to my mother on the east coast with my forecast for the time she would get the letter (about three days). it blew her mind that I could do this, but was pretty easy. The most fun was launching the weather balloons.
Years later when I lived in Vermont and upstate New York, I realized how difficult forecasting was there. They had to deal with weather from Canada, from the west, and often from the south, all converging right there, Any kind of conditions could result.
Now i live in Arizona where it is a breeze forecasting. Just say, “It is going to be hot and dry,” and you’ve got it.
I used to be on the Space Shuttle Support Team, sending meteorological data from Edwards AFB to Johnson Space Center. It was kind of fun watching the AF guys launch the rawinsondes.
A meteorologist is one who has a doctorate degree in meteorology. None of the TV weathermen has that, but they’ve all had some training in the field. Some do have a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. Some describe themselves as TV meteorologists, TV weathermen, etc. There are meterologists and then there are meterologists. Some meteorologists work for the federal government at NOAA. Some work for private companies and some work for the private weather forecasting sites, such as Wunderground, Intellicast, Accuweather, etc.
That just happens to be their first name: Meteorologist Bob Smith. At least, that’s how they’re always referred to.
I’ve always wondered why so many parents choose that name.
Guaranteed income. It’s right up there with Lefthanded Reliever John Smith. 
I miss him.
Anyways, my meteorologist team is made up of one person with a bachelors in meteorology from St. Louis University (and he tends to give small meteorologist lectures with his forecasts), one person with the MSU certificate, one fairly new one with a Bachelor of Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Kansas, and one who just moved on to the NWS in Alaska as one of the few broadcast journalists (his profile does not seem to be on the website anymore, so I don’t know his credentials.)
I would definitely call all of them meteorologists (though we could quibble on guy #2.)
Yes, but CPA stands for Certified Public Accountant. The word meteorologist does not contain anything about certification, and most words that uses the -ologist suffix do not necessarily mean you have a doctorate in that subject. I personally think it is the doctors of meteorology who need a new term. Anyone with a degree in the subject should be fine.
Now, if they don’t have any meteorological degrees at all, and are just communications majors or something, then, fine, call them weather forecasters.
EDIT: Yes, there’s enough information there to figure out what news station I listen to. But if there’s anyone out there who cares that much (ha!), I wanted to give them a small challenge.
:D:D Ah, thank you, that certainly clears up and explains the mystery.
A meteorologist is someone with at least a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. You wouldn’t call someone who has read a few Carl Sagan books a physicist or someone who made a baking soda volcano a chemist, so you shouldn’t call yourself a meteorologist if your degree is in journalism, even if you took some courses in how to look like a meteorologist on TV.
That’s the way it should be, but it isn’t. It’s been corrupted.
C’est la vie.
True, but as I said there are meteorologists and then there are meteorologists. A psychologist does not need a Ph.D. to call himself or herself a psychologist and such a person can do the same type of exam as a Ph.D., but if he or she has only a master’s (and there are numerous types of master degrees a person can have and still be called a psychologist), his or her exam must be also signed by a psychologist with a Ph.D. I don’t think meteorologists need a new term.