There were a lot of reasons - the hours, the days, the weekends, and the surprisingly low salary for a part timer in a market like Buffalo, where forecasting weather is often a challenge. 

"The low salaries and the hours are the primary reasons that it is difficult to fill openings for secondary meteorologists who spend years studying for the role.

"It does surprise me,” Lam said of the salary range. “Just because there's a lot of responsibility for the station scientists. You have to be there whenever severe weather hits. You're the person that is expected to have a grasp if there's an earthquake. That's really not our field, but we are the scientists there. We have to know that astronomy. People have all sorts of questions, and it's a lot of work to become a meteorologist, and the schedule is not great. You sacrifice a lot if you do it full time.”

Carl Lam's travels as weekend meteorologist speak to the reality of Buffalo salaries