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Meteorology Major
The College Weather Center and supporting laboratory, computing and field equipment provide numerous opportunities for students to study the atmosphere.
The Meteorology major is structured as a professional preparation track to employment with the National Weather Service, governmental agencies, the military services, private meteorological and engineering firms, and as prerequisite to graduate study in the atmospheric and related sciences. The strong physical science orientation of the program prepares students to enter numerous related fields, including environmental and computer science, hydrology, and wind and solar energy utilization. Designed to provide a sound basis for the student with strong aptitude and interest in mathematics, physics, and chemistry in application to the atmospheric environment, this plan of study may be oriented toward a special interest area by the judicious choice of electives.
Recent graduates have gone on to attend nationally renowned graduate schools, to operate their own weather and environmental forecasting and consulting companies; and to work for state and county agencies, public utilities, U.S. Government laboratories, commercial airlines, the military services, and private industry.
Student’s have completed internships at local TV stations including 13 WHAM (ABC), and WHEC 10 (NBC), the National Weather Service, The Weather Channel and the National Severe Storms Lab to name a few.
Curriculum Overview
Course Listing
Meteorology majors must earn a minimum of 41 credits in meteorology and complete one year of college level physics with laboratory; two semesters of calculus; differential equations; and chemistry. Additional supporting work in the sciences and mathematics is strongly recommended. The computer literacy requirement should be met with a programming course.
To make normal progress toward the degree, students should take ESC 391 and ESC 350 in the sophomore year (or junior year at the latest), and ESC 493 in the senior year. In planning your program of study, please note that a number of required courses are offered every other year.
Required major courses (41 hours):
| ESC 211 | Introduction to Meteorology | (4 cr.) |
| ESC 311 | Synoptic Meteorology | (4 cr.) |
| ESC 312 | Weather Forecasting | (4 cr.) |
| ESC 350 | Computational Methods in the Field Sciences | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 351 | Lab Experiences in Scientific Programming | (1 cr.) |
| ESC 391 | Writing in the Earth Sciences | (1 cr.) |
| ESC 313-314 | Environmental Climatology and Laboratory | |
| or | ||
| ESC 412 | Hydrology | (4 cr.) |
| ESC 415 | Physical Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 416 | Thermodynamics and the Boundary Layer | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 417 | Dynamic Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 420 | Atmospheric Sensing Methods | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 493 | Seminar | (2 cr.) |
| Meteorology electives by advisement | (6 cr.) | |
Required corequisite courses (23 hours):
| MTH 201-202 | Calculus I, II | (8 cr.) |
| MTH 255 | Differential Equations | (3 cr.) |
| PHS 235-240 | Physics I, II | (8 cr.) |
| CHM 205 | Chemistry I | (4 cr.) |
Designated electives:
| ESC 200 | Introduction to Oceanography | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 313 | Environmental Climatology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 314 | Climatology Laboratory | (1 cr.) |
| ESC 412 | Hydrology | (4 cr.) |
| ESC 421 | Air Pollution Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 432 | Tropical Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 452 | Mesoscale Meteorology | (3 cr.) |
| ESC 460 | Meteorological Internship | (1-3 cr.) |
| ESC 399/499 | Independent Study | (1-3 cr.) |
Recommended supporting courses include:
| CHM 206 | College Chemistry II | (4 cr.) |
| CSC 203 | Fundamentals of Computer Science I | (3 cr.) |
| CSC 205 | Fundamentals of Computer Science II | (4 cr.) |
| CPS 201 | Computational Science Tools I | (3 cr.) |
| CPS 202 | Computational Science Tools II | (3 cr.) |
| PHS 300 | Classical Physics | (3 cr.) |
| PHS 301 | Mathematical Methods of Physics | (3 cr.) |
| MTH 203 | Calculus III | (3 cr.) |
| MTH 471 | Numerical Analysis | (3 cr.) |
