Freddy McKinney

Freddy McKinney
Undated image of Freddy McKinney in front of a tornado
Instagram information
Followers	11,000
YouTube information
Channel	Freddy McKinney
Years active	2014–present
Genre	Storm chasing
Subscribers	449,000
Views	63 million

Freddy McKinney is a professional storm chaser and YouTuber. McKinney has chased multiple tornadoes and usually livestreams his chases.

Early life

McKinney was born in Rising City, Nebraska. McKinney’s fascination with weather began when he was four years old. After reading meteorology books and studying radar equipment, him and his father started going on storm chasing trips. ^[1]

Career

In 2021, McKinney teamed up with WOWT to chase storms in Kansas. The team saw quarter sized hail during a thunderstorm. A brief tornado formed 10 miles south of the team, but they weren’t fast enough to catch it. ^[2]

On May 2, 2024, an EF3 tornado touched down near Hawley, Texas, injuring 4 people. McKinney was storm chasing this tornado and happened to catch the tornado destroying a home right in front of him. McKinney drove down the driveway of the home after realizing it was hit by the tornado. After arriving at the home to assess the damage, 4 people from the house started running to his car asking for help. 7-year old Lane Lambert was picked up by the tornado and was thrown 25 feet. ^[3] His mother claims that if McKinney didn't arrive in time, Lane would've bled out from the head. ^[4]

References

1. Dykstra, Tanner. "A changing profession: Social media's impact on storm chasing". Nebraska Public Media. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
2. Ostarly, Clay (2021-04-10). "WOWT partners with local storm chasers". WOWT. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
3. Hays, Julie; Gartner, Jordan (2024-05-04). "'Absolute miracle': Boy, 7, survives being thrown by tornado that destroyed family home". WEAU 13. Retrieved 2025-12-04.
4. "Storm chaser saves Texas family of 4 after tornado destroys home - CBS Texas". CBS. 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2025-12-04.