Photo: via Frankie MacDonald (Facebook)
Meet Frank MacDonald. He’s not your ordinary weatherman, not by a long shot. He’s so much more.
While some may consider him an amateur, Frankie may be the most inspiring weatherman of all time, in spite of his autism. At 34, Frankie has had a YouTube channel nearly a decade now. What started out as skits and one-man shows soon turned to weather reports, but all the infotainment combined is what made him famous.
Frankie Warns Us About Hurricane Florence
Again, Frankie has autism, but he didn’t even speak until he was roughly 7 years old. Now, not only is he talking, he’s got the world by the short and curlies with millions of views and more than 177K subscribers. But what’s even more impressive is the empire he has built.
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Frankie has his own action figure complete with his famous slogan, “Frankie says be prepared.” He has his own talking bobblehead. He also released his own book this past summer called, Be Prepared: The Frankie MacDonald Guide To Life, The Weather, And Everything. He’s gotten props from celebs like Snoop Dogg and has a Blog Spot dedicated to pictures with his fans, which are 99 percent women.
Yes, Frankie is absolutely killing it.
But just when you think Frankie couldn’t be more affable, he surprises you. He’s not always 100-percent weather. Like I mentioned before, he also likes to display his more theatrical side.
Here he is, totally unabashed as a gorilla.
The Guy Acting Like a Gorilla pic.twitter.com/yLfKbNxSI9
— Frankie MacDonald (@frankiemacd) March 16, 2018
Get your rain coast: Take A Flight Through Florence’s 130 MPH Winds In This Time-Lapse Footage
Frankie has overcome a lot in his life, including bullying. He’s an inspiration and should definitely be your latest follow (and obsession). We love ya, Frankie!
Here’s his song about his passion for his weather reports. Take it away, Frankie!
Josh Helmuth is a sports reporter in St. Louis who contributes to Mandatory.