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Professionals · code 2112

Meteorologists

AI weather models are now very good. Explaining what a storm warning means is still a forecaster.

AI could take a fair chunk of six of the nine tasks, led by crunching station, radar and satellite data and building weather models. Field experiments like cloud seeding are mostly out of its reach.

What they actually do (and what else they get called)

Meteorologists prepare short-term or long-term weather forecasts used in aviation, shipping, agriculture and other areas and for the information of the general public. They conduct research related to the composition, structure and dynamics of the atmosphere. Tasks include - (a) investigating direction and speed of air movements, pressures, temperatures, humidity, physical and chemical transformation of pollutants and other phenomena such as cloud formation and precipitation, electrical disturbances or solar radiation; (b) studying data collected from meteorological stations, radar and satellite imagery and computer model output to plot and forecast weather conditions; (c) preparing and reporting short-term or long-term weather maps, forecasts and warnings relating to atmospheric phenomena such as cyclones, storms and other hazards to life and property, and disseminating information about atmospheric conditions through a variety of media including radio, television, print and the Internet; (d) conducting experiments in fog dispersal, cloud seeding, rain enhancement and other types of weather modification programmes; (e) developing and testing mathematical computer models of weather and climate for experimental or operational use; (f) participating in studies of the effect of weather on the environment; (g) analysing the impact of industrial projects and human activity on the climate and quality of the air, and working with the social science, engineering and economic communities to develop appropriate mitigation strategies; (h) engaging in the design and development of new equipment and procedures for meteorological data collection and remote sensing, or for related applications; (i) conducting research on and improving or developing concepts, theories and operational methods related to the composition, structure and dynamics of the atmosphere, and preparing scientific papers and reports on the outcome of this research. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Climatologist - Hydrometeorologist - Meteorologist - Weather forecaster

  • meteorologist
  • metrologist

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

46 / 100

Changing significantly

AI could do a real share of the everyday tasks. The job is changing shape, not vanishing.

Not the odds you keep your job. It's how much of the everyday work still needs a person, out of 100.

← Robot's turf Human's turf →

The ILO's official verdict: Exposed: Gradient 3

389 of 427 for holding up against AI

Why this score?

The ILO rated each of this job's 9 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 53.6 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 53.6 = 46.4.

That's the whole sum. No black box, no secret sauce: you can check it against the ILO's study. ILO group “Exposed: Gradient 3”: Most of the tasks are affected.

This job rates 13.1 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Man v Bot · compare

Who holds up better?

Meteorologists 46

v

Go on, try your partner's job. Or your sibling's. We won't tell.

Man v Bot

Where the bot helps, and where the human wins

Bot

What AI takes

The routine stuff. You may not miss it.

  • Forecasting from model output.
  • Building weather models.
  • Weather maps and routine forecasts.

Man

What people still do better

Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.

  • Severe weather warnings and advice.
  • Explaining uncertainty to the public.
  • Research on climate.

Both

What's arriving

New work that only exists because the AI does.

  • AI weather models.
  • Climate risk services.
  • Extreme weather response.

Written by a human, from the ILO's task ratings below. Yes, we see the irony. Read it as one person's take.

Meet your two rivals

They're not the same machine. AI software can only reach the parts of a job done on a screen or in words. A chatbot can't climb a ladder. A robot might, one day, if it doesn't fall off.

The AI

Lives in a screen. Never had to fix a boiler.

Threat level: Low

33 could do without you

It could take over very little of the work on its own. It could help with 75 of 100.

The robot

The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.

How much it matters here: Lower

13 how hands-on

Not much of this job needs hands, so the robot can sit this one out.

So could a robot do the physical part?

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

Robots hate fiddly work in awkward spaces. On that measure, this job scores 4 out of 100. The higher it is, the longer the robot waits.

13 How
hands-on
4 How fiddly
and cramped

Kind of hands-on work Less than half hands-on

The small print

They aren't a robot score, and nothing on this page is. Nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to put a number on it. These are the closest thing we have: how hands-on the job is, and how much fiddly, cramped work it takes, which is what Frey and Osborne found hardest for machines.

From O*NET, matched to one US job .

finger skill 5.4 · hand skill 3.6 · cramped spaces 3.7 · averaged · rule: hands-on under 50

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.8-observed-use measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

The job, task by task

Every job is really a bundle of tasks. Here's this one unpacked, with how much of each AI could do, out of 100. The score is the average, and averages can hide a lot.

AI's favourite task here scores 65, against an average of 54. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.

  1. 65

    Studying data collected from meteorological stations, radar and satellite imagery and computer model output to plot and forecast weather conditions

    Medium
  2. 64

    Developing and testing mathematical computer models of weather and climate for experimental or operational use

    Medium
  3. 63

    Preparing and reporting short-term or long-term weather maps, forecasts and warnings relating to atmospheric phenomena such as cyclones, storms and other hazards to life and property and disseminating information about atmospheric conditions through a variety of media including radio, television, print and the Internet

    Medium
  4. 60

    Engaging in the design and development of new equipment and procedures for meteorological data collection, remote sensing, or for related applications

    Medium
  5. 56

    Conducting research on and improving or developing concepts, theories and operational methods related to the composition, structure and dynamics of the atmosphere and preparing scientific papers and reports on the outcome of this research.

    Medium
  6. 56

    Investigating direction and speed of air movements, pressures, temperatures, humidity, physical and chemical transformation of pollutants and other phenomena such as cloud formation and precipitation, electrical disturbances or solar radiation

    Medium
  7. 49

    Analysing the impact of industrial projects and human activity on the climate and quality of the air and working with the social science, engineering and economic communities to develop appropriate mitigation strategies

    Low
  8. 43

    Participating in studies of the effect of weather on the environment

    Low
  9. 26

    Conducting experiments in fog dispersal, cloud seeding, rain enhancement and other types of weather modification programmes

    Low

9 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Sidekick or replacement?

A tool that makes you faster is a very different thing from one that does the task while you watch. Jobs and Skills Australia measured the two separately, which is handy.

AI helps you
75
AI does it for you
33

Sidekick wins, by 42 points.

How good a match is this?

One Australian job matches this one closely, so this is about as reliable as it gets here.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 2349

Meanwhile, in real life…

Everything else here is about what AI could do. This is what people actually did. When they asked Claude for help with this kind of work, did they hand the whole task over, or roll their sleeves up and work through it together?

Tiny sample alert This job makes up 0.02% of all the conversations: a tiny slice. People using AI for a job isn't the same as AI being able to do it.

Out of every 100 conversations

76
24

worked through it together handed it over

The small print

Anthropic publishes this about its own product, and it doesn't feed into any score here. These are people who use Claude, not workers in general, so little use here doesn't mean AI can't reach the job.

These two add up to 100. The bars elsewhere on the page don't, because each is scored on its own, so we don't put them side by side.

observed use Anthropic Economic Index release 2026-06-26, period beginning 2026-05-01 data 0.8-observed-use 2026-05-01 · Anthropic, about its own product

So, should meteorologists be worried?

Short answer: not worried, but paying attention. The job is changing.

Parts of the job are changing fast. Forecasting from data, models, warnings, equipment design, research and air movement are rated Medium; climate impact and environmental studies are Low. AI forecasting models are now competitive with traditional ones, so the job shifts to interpretation and warnings.

Worth remembering: we score tasks, not jobs. When AI takes on a task, the job usually reshuffles around it rather than vanishing.

Where this job could lead

None of the new jobs we've written up start from here yet. Could be you're the first. See the jobs AI is creating →

How are the neighbours doing?

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” family, averaging 62. This one is below the family average.

Pit this against any other job →