Frankie MacDonald, YouTube weather whiz, warns Portland of ‘major winter storm'
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – YouTube weather whiz Frankie MacDonald took to his channel to warn Portland that a 'major winter storm' could be coming to the city on Thursday.
MacDonald, an amateur meteorologist from Nova Scotia with more than 304,000 subscribers, has grown a cult following online — as seen on the — for his enthusiastic weather forecasts under the handle .
Winter Weather Timeline: Snow, ice on the way, start preparing now
In January 2024, an '' blanketed the greater Portland metro area in a sheet of ice that took days to melt. Ahead of the storm, that the region could see 'a lot of snow' with 'dangerous and treacherous driving conditions,' and his forecast turned out to be shockingly accurate.
His forecast was posted on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, and by the end of the weekend, snow and freezing rain covered Multnomah County in nearly 2 inches of ice that led to downed power lines, mass outages, and .
Now MacDonald has another prediction for Portland, this time for the city's first winter storm of 2025. According to a , residents in the region can expect a 'major winter storm' on Thursday.
'People in Portland, Oregon, be safe. Have your winter boots, winter jackets, hats, gloves, scarves and ski pants Ready and order your pizzas and Chinese food,' MacDonald said in the video. 'Buy cases of Pepsi and Coke. Do your grocery shopping. Don't wait until the last minute; do it right now.'
PHOTOS: North Medford school gym roof collapses under 350 tons of snow
Meanwhile, that temperatures in the Portland area will struggle to get above freezing as the region faces snow and freezing rain. It's not yet clear when the precipitation will begin, nor how many inches the region should expect.
As for MacDonald's prediction, Meteorologist Steve Pierce says it's best to take amateur forecasts with a grain of salt.
'Although amateur social media forecasts can be entertaining, folks should always get their forecasts from trusted experts,' Pierce said. 'The KOIN 6 weather team has been on top of this developing storm and has the latest updates from trusted model data, which is interpreted by the area's most accurate weather team.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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