Photo By Martin Egnash | Sgt. Jason P. Lukasek, a weather forecaster aboard Marine Corps Air Station New River,...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. – “People are always talking about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,” said Mark Twain. Though modern Marine meteorologists still can’t control the weather, they have come a long way in predicting its path.
Man has been trying to interpret the sky and predict the weather for thousands of years. For most of those years, predictions have been anyone’s best guess. In the 19th century, further development of weather observation instruments and calculations led to an increased demand for accurate weather predictions. Today, meteorologists and oceanographers use complex technology and specialized equipment to provide a more accurate depiction of what’s to come.
For the Marine Corps, the job is done by the military occupation specialty 6842, Analyst Forecasters. Also known as meteorologist/oceanographers, forecasters are responsible for predicting the weather forecast.
“We provide accurate, up-to-date weather conditions,” said Sgt. Jason Lukasek, a Sparta, Wis., native, who has always had a knack for earth science. “We can pinpoint to within the hour when certain conditions will arise. Sometimes you can pinpoint to the exact minute when a condition will happen, but then you’re just showing off.”
Many Marines, especially pilots, heavily rely on accurate weather data.
“Every aircraft, before taking off, has to go through weather first,” said Lukasek. “Conditions like turbulence, rain and lightning can really affect aircraft.”
One of the most significant conditions, and most dangerous to pilots, is the thunderstorm.
“Thunderstorms have a combination of wind, turbulence, rain, low-visibility and lightning,” said Lukasek. “That makes them a particular nuisance to Marines in the air.”
Marines on the ground use weather data as well. Some of the most visible manifestations of their weather forecasts are the heat index flags.
“We calculate the hottest and coldest temperatures that somebody could possibly feel,” said Lukasek. “From that, we find the average and represent it with flags that Marines can use for easy reference.”
Calculating weather conditions is not an easy task. Training can take almost a year, with one or two additional years of on-the-job training.
“Everything’s fine when your forecast is accurate,” said Sgt. Nathan Will, who recently crossed over to forecasting from a different MOS. “But the smallest mistake, and I mean a fraction of a fraction of a mistake, can completely change the forecast from sunny to raining.”
Lukasek, who has been forecasting weather for over five years, believes the challenge of predicting weather lies in its unpredictability.
“It all comes down to what kind of formulas you use,” said Lukasek. “There might be 10 different formulas to use to find out the temperature, so there’s a lot of grey area when you’re trying to predict what the weather is going to do. It’s still not an exact science. ”
Jokes about the inaccuracy of the local news weatherman are common in all places that have access to the weather channel, but there is a vast difference to news weathermen and Marine meteorologists.
“We are very different than the ‘meteorologists’ you see on television,” said Lukasek. “We are dramatically more accurate than them. We don’t just tell you that it might be partly cloudy and partly sunny. We can pinpoint almost exactly when raindrops will start falling.”
To serve the Marines in and around the air station, the forecasting station is manned at all times. This is because, according to Lukasek, weather, rain or shine, will always be near the air station and will need to be monitored to give the word out to local residents.
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.11.2011 11:30 |
| Story ID: | 78322 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Rain or shine: Meteorologists provide accurate, up-to-date weather, by Martin Egnash, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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