Success at offering an atmospheric science course with a lab totally online comes from careful preparation. This poster will discuss 5 steps that can be taken which will enhance student learning, minimize attrition and improve student satisfaction through the creation of an online learning community. Using examples from four summer offerings of the AMS Online Weather Studies course, the poster will highlight specific strategies used to encourage early communication, build motivation, facilitate understanding, increase learning and bolster retention of what is learned. Online Weather Studies is an introductory college-level, online distance-learning course in the fundamentals of atmospheric science, where students study weather as it happens. The course addresses the need for innovative and cost-effective lab science education opportunities for an increasingly diverse and non-traditional student population. It has been offered at over 180 two- and four-year institutions of higher learning in the United States over the past five years.