National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist Opportunities
On November 6th, the National Weather Service has reopened 25 entry-level Meteorologist positions at Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) across the country:
Mobile, AL
Little Rock, AR
Flagstaff, AZ
Tucson, AZ
Monterey, CA
Oxnard, CA
Sacramento, CA
Boise, ID
Goodland, KS (see more information below)
Jackson, KY
Lake Charles, LA
Norton, MA
Glasgow, MT
Great Falls, MT
Missoula, MT
Medford, OR
Pendleton, OR
State College, PA
San Juan, PR
Morristown, TN
Amarillo, TX
Corpus Christi, TX
Salt Lake City, UT
Seattle, WA
Spokane, WA
Applications are being taken at https://www.usajobs.gov/job/817812800.
Applications for these positions must be submitted by Wednesday, November 20th.
Hello from Goodland, KS!
Interested in a career as a National Weather Service Meteorologist? Want a commute under 10 minutes and a less expensive cost of living? Do you have a passion for severe weather and want to live in an area where you can view storm structure with little to no obstructions? If so, we have an opportunity for you at WFO Goodland! We currently have several entry-level Meteorologist positions available at our office that close on November 20th. The announcement can be found at this link: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/817812800.
Goodland is a rural community of around 4300 people with an average home price of $148,007 (US average is $361,282). It offers all the benefits of a rural community with a general low cost of living, a great school system, a safe environment away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, and is a very friendly community. For those looking for a great place to start off their career, I cannot think of a better place! In fact, that is what I did nearly five years ago.
If you enjoy the outdoors, there are numerous places to camp, fish, and hunt in the area. We have a few state parks such as Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park and Prairie Dog State Park which has a nice lake for fishing and boating. The rural nature of the area allows for excellent conditions for those who enjoy stargazing and watching the weather. Goodland’s location on Interstate 70 also means you are only around a 3 hour drive to the Denver metro area, Colorado Springs, and nearby Rocky Mountains. In a lot of ways, it is the best of both worlds!
The weather that occurs on the High Plains is nothing short of amazing. Do you enjoy storm spotting and chasing? The visibility in this area allows you to observe amazing storm structure, and it is not unheard of to be able to observe a tornado from 20 miles or more away! In addition to severe weather, the area sees plenty of blizzards, dust storms, wind storms, heat waves, and arctic outbreaks. With the exception of tropical and marine weather, you will be able to see a wide swath of meteorological events.
On top of the amazing weather out here, we also have a great office culture! In fact, it's one of our proudest aspects of the office. We have a great track record of our staff moving on to achieve their career goals in the agency. Worried about how much operational experience you will get in the first year? In the last five years, all of our GS 5-12 hires have been able to work every part of operations within one to two years! Our GS 5-12s take part and even lead storm surveys, office programs, local office research, annual Storm Spotter training, and attend outreach events across the forecast area. Our Meteorologist in Charge's goal is to provide an environment where everyone looks forward to coming to work and is able to maintain the passion which made them interested in meteorology to begin with.
I encourage you to reach out to myself (kalitta.kauffman@noaa.gov) or the MIC Jeremy Martin (jeremy.martin@noaa.gov) if you have any questions! You can also view a video about our local partners or our recruitment video that the staff has produced.
Thank you for your consideration!
Kalitta Kauffman