Head above the clouds: The journey of Jordan’s first private weatherman

AMMAN — At the age of 14, the first word Mohammad Shaker typed when he began using the Internet was "weather". 

The young pharmacist turned meteorologist had been fascinated by the science of weather since the age of eight, having to live with sarcastic comments from his friends and classmates whenever he spoke about weather as a "hobby".  

"I never missed the weather forecast that was broadcast on national TV at 8:30pm. I used to record it daily," the 24-year-old meteorologist recalled. 

Once a fan and a student of weathermen, today Shaker stands as the sole rival of the official weather authorities, especially after he secured a platform on a leading local website and then had his own business and website: www.arabiaweather.com.    

His family, he said, gave him "reasonable support". 

"My mother bought me books on meteorological issues. She also used to drive me to the Jordan Meteorological Department."

There, meteorologists volunteered "to explain to me phenomena like depressions, how they form and move", Shaker told The Jordan Times in a recent interview. 

With this passion and knowledge, people started to take him more seriously. 

Neighbours and friends began relying on him to give his own forecast whenever they had an outdoor event, or any activity where the weather condition counts. 

"My teacher set up a specific board for me to post the latest meteorological news," he added. 

Aya Zaidan, one of Shaker's former school colleagues and current co-worker, recalled that when the science lesson was about weather, he took over and explained it to the class.

Hiba Ghousheh, also a former classmate, said Shaker loved Arabic class because he knew that one day he would need presentation skills.

As he delved deeper into the issue, Shaker said he transformed his home's basement into a meteorology hall, and when the Internet was available, he began searching for online courses. 

"I took part in a three-level course introduced by a US university," he added. 

In 2003, Shaker set up his first website, dubbed Jordan Weather, and then created a forum for people interested in meteorology. 

In 2006, he expected that floods might form in the Kingdom's south and he contacted the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

"The weather was so nice at the time I called them that they didn't buy it," he added. 

They were wrong and so was the official weather forecast. 

The desert floods claimed eight lives that year. 

The Jordan Weather website was attracting more fans, and with the increasing traffic, it started to generate some money.

Shaker acknowledges that his work is not perfect. He has made mistakes, which is natural in a weatherman’s career. 

However, he wanted to learn more, and so between 2008 and 2010, he went to England where he earned three more certifications in meteorology. Revenues from his website partly funded his studies.

In 2009, he worked with a German organisation as their correspondent for weather forecasts in the Middle East, and in 2010, his business expanded to cover the Arab world, with offices in Amman and Dubai.  

Shaker attributes his "success" to his "extreme dedication and pursuit of the most accurate forecast". 

"When we expect that, for example, a snowstorm will hit the south, we go to the south to double check and see how accurate we were," he added. 

Shaker is satisfied with his personal success and the progress in his career. He is willing to pass this experience to young Jordanians who have the same passion.  

"I'm really optimistic about the future. When I first created the company in 2010, there were only two people working in a small office. Now there are around 15 people working on one floor." 

There is room for others, he said.