Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Weather Program Supervisor

🎯 Role Definition

The Weather Program Supervisor oversees the day-to-day operations of a weather program or forecast office, supervising meteorologists and technical staff to produce accurate forecasts, watches, warnings, and specialized decision-support briefings. This role is accountable for quality control of forecast products, staff development and scheduling, maintenance of observation networks and forecasting systems, and cross-agency coordination during high-impact weather events. The supervisor ensures compliance with national standards, supports model verification and research-to-operations initiatives, and acts as the primary liaison to emergency managers, transportation agencies, and the media.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Operational Meteorologist / Lead Forecaster with 3–7 years of operational experience.
Broadcast Meteorologist or Aviation Weather Specialist transitioning from industry forecasting roles.
Hydrometeorologist or NWP Analyst moving into supervisory operations.

Advancement To:

Director of Meteorology or Weather Program Director overseeing multiple forecast offices or region-wide operations.
Senior Emergency Management Liaison / Director for Weather Services in state or federal agencies.
Chief Meteorologist for large broadcast networks or private weather corporations.

Lateral Moves:

Hydrometeorology Program Manager or River Forecast Center Lead.
Aviation Weather Manager or Airport Weather Operations Supervisor.

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead, supervise, and mentor a team of operational meteorologists, hydrologists, and technical staff to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery of forecasts, watches, warnings, and decision-support products for public safety and partner agencies.
Establish and manage duty schedules, shift rotations, on-call coverage, and workforce planning to maintain 24/7 forecast and warning capability, including contingency staffing during prolonged or multi-site high-impact events.
Oversee the production and QA/QC of forecast products, ensuring compliance with NOAA/NWS or agency standards, proper use of warning polygons, consistent messaging, and timely dissemination through multiple channels.
Coordinate with local, state, and federal emergency management agencies to develop tailored decision-support briefings, impact-based warnings, and incident response plans for severe weather, flooding, winter storms, tropical systems, and other hazards.
Lead operational briefings and incident command support during high-impact weather events, providing actionable guidance to emergency managers, public safety officials, transportation agencies, and critical infrastructure operators.
Manage program budgets and resource allocation for forecasting tools, observation networks, software licenses, training, and equipment procurement to sustain and improve forecasting capability.
Oversee maintenance, quality assurance, and calibration of local observation networks (mesonets, weather stations, river gauges) and ensure reliable ingestion of radar, satellite, and surface observations into operational systems.
Evaluate and implement numerical weather prediction (NWP) guidance, ensemble products, and model output statistics, translating model strengths and biases into clear operational procedures for forecasters.
Build and maintain collaborative partnerships with NOAA/NWS offices, university research groups, state climatologists, FAA, DOT, utilities, and private sector partners to enhance service delivery and research-to-operations transitions.
Develop, document, and update Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), checklists, and forecast decision matrices to standardize responses for severe convective events, flash floods, winter hazards, and prolonged disasters.
Lead post-event reviews, verification and model performance analyses, and lessons-learned activities to continuously improve forecast accuracy, warning lead time, and stakeholder outcomes.
Supervise training programs, professional development plans, and certification efforts (e.g., AMS certifications) for meteorology staff, ensuring skill currency in radar analysis, satellite interpretation, hydrology, and risk communication.
Direct the integration of new forecasting technologies, GIS tools, and visualization platforms to improve situational awareness, product clarity, and stakeholder engagement.
Manage public-facing communications strategies during weather emergencies, coordinating unified messaging with PIOs, social media teams, and broadcast partners to deliver accurate, timely, and actionable warnings.
Ensure availability and redundancy of critical IT systems, data feeds, and communications links; coordinate with IT and facilities teams on disaster recovery plans and uninterrupted operations.
Provide specialized forecast support and briefings for aviation operations, maritime interests, energy and utility partners, and major event planners with focused attention on regulatory and safety requirements.
Oversee hydrologic forecasting and coordination with river forecast centers, managing river stage forecasts, flood watches/warnings, and decision support for reservoirs and flood-prone infrastructure.
Manage the collection and archiving of climatological records, storm reports, and event datasets used for verification, trend analysis, and stakeholder reporting.
Represent the weather program at interagency meetings, public hearings, and community outreach events to establish credibility, explain forecast uncertainties, and promote preparedness and resilience.
Supervise contract and vendor relationships related to observing systems, radar servicing, software support, and consulting meteorological services, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to service-level agreements.
Lead exercises, tabletop drills, and continuity-of-operations planning to evaluate readiness for multi-hazard incidents and to streamline coordination between weather services and emergency response partners.
Promote a culture of safety, inclusion, continuous learning, and evidence-based decision-making within the team while aligning program objectives with broader organizational goals.

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.
Assist public affairs and outreach teams with educational content, storm safety messaging, and community preparedness materials.
Participate in grant writing and funding proposals for observation network enhancements, research partnerships, or outreach programs.
Provide mentorship to interns and early-career meteorologists and help coordinate internship or university partnership programs.
Serve as a backup incident liaison or PIO for small-scale events when needed.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Operational Forecasting: Proven ability to produce and oversee short-term, medium-range, and event-driven forecasts across multiple hazard types (convective, winter, tropical, hydrologic).
NWP Interpretation: Experience evaluating and blending numerical weather prediction models (GFS, ECMWF, HRRR, NAM, RAP, ensembles) and applying model biases to operational guidance.
Radar & Satellite Analysis: Advanced skills in Doppler radar interpretation, satellite imagery analysis, and nowcasting techniques for severe weather and mesoscale phenomena.
Hydrometeorology: Knowledge of river forecasting, runoff modeling, flash flood guidance, and coordination with river forecast centers and water-resource partners.
Warning Operations & Impact-Based Decision Support: Skilled at issuing watches/warnings, developing impact-based warnings, and providing actionable decision support to emergency managers.
Observing Networks & Instrumentation: Experience managing mesonets, AWOS/ASOS, river gauges, and remote sensors including QA/QC, calibration, and telemetry troubleshooting.
GIS & Visualization Tools: Proficient with GIS systems, geospatial analysis, and product visualization to create user-focused hazard maps and situational displays.
Programming & Data Analysis: Competence with Python, R, SQL, or similar tools for data processing, verification, automation, and model diagnostics.
Systems & IT Coordination: Familiarity with meteorological workstations, data ingest pipelines, redundancy planning, and working with IT on uptime and security.
Regulatory & Industry Standards: Understanding of FAA, DOT, and NOAA/NWS policies and requirements relevant to aviation and public safety forecasting.

Soft Skills

Leadership & People Management: Effective supervisor with experience in coaching, performance management, conflict resolution, and building high-performing teams.
Communication & Public Speaking: Strong verbal and written communication skills for public messaging, briefings to senior leadership, and media interactions.
Stakeholder Relationship Management: Ability to cultivate trusted relationships with emergency managers, infrastructure operators, and partner agencies.
Decision-Making Under Pressure: Proven experience making timely, high-consequence decisions during fast-evolving weather events.
Strategic Planning & Program Management: Skills in budgeting, resource allocation, program improvement, and aligning operational capabilities with strategic priorities.
Problem Solving & Critical Thinking: Analytical approach to diagnosing system issues, evaluating alternative solutions, and improving operations.
Training & Mentorship: Commitment to staff development, continuous learning, and transferring institutional knowledge to junior staff.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Earth Science, or a closely related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Meteorology, Atmospheric Science, Hydrology, Climate Science, or related discipline.
Professional certifications such as AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) or AMS/UCAR operational training credentials are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Meteorology / Atmospheric Science
Hydrology / Water Resources
Climatology / Environmental Science
Earth & Space Science
Geography with emphasis on GIS and remote sensing

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–12 years of operational meteorology, including at least 3 years in a lead or supervisory role.

Preferred:

8+ years experience in an operational forecast environment (NOAA/NWS, aviation meteorology, broadcast operations, or private sector forecasting).
Demonstrated experience coordinating with emergency management, DOT/transportation agencies, and other external stakeholders.
Experience with model verification, research-to-operations transitions, and leading multi-disciplinary teams in high-stakes weather operations.