Plain English Meaning
Weather scientists. They study how the atmosphere behaves and predict what the weather will do.
Full Definition
Scientists who study the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather, and who analyze observations and computer models to forecast conditions such as wind, temperature, precipitation, visibility, and storms.
Context Anchor
Pilots encounter meteorologists indirectly through aviation weather reports, forecasts, briefings, and weather products used before and during flight.
Derivation
From the Greek 'meteoron,' meaning 'something high in the sky,' plus '-logist,' meaning 'one who studies.' So a meteorologist is literally 'one who studies things in the sky' — which originally meant clouds, , and other atmospheric events, not meteors in the modern sense.