Meteorological Analysis
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Frances originated from a tropical wave which left the coast of Africa on August
21st. The wave gradually became better organized as it crossed the ocean and
by August 24th the wave became a tropical depression, 655 nm WSW of the
Cape Verde Islands. The sub-tropical ridge continued to steer the depression
WNW, and environmental conditions were good. The depression became
tropical storm Frances on the 24th. Frances then continued to strengthen quite
a bit, becoming a hurricane on the 26th. Frances reached winds of 135 mph on
the 28th. Ridging then built in north of Frances and the storm turned westward.
Weakening occurred during this time due to an eye wall replacement cycle.
Frances began to strengthen again on the 29th, and by the 31st it reached its
peak winds of 145 mph. As Frances passed north of the Antilles from
September 1st to 2nd, Frances maintained winds around 140 mph. It reached
its minimum pressure of 937 mb during this time. Shear then began to impact
Frances and it weakened to a Cat 3. Frances moved over the Bahamas from
September 2nd to 4th as a Cat 3. Steering currents then weakened considerably
as Frances was moving through the north western Bahamas due to a ridge
building into the west. This caused Frances to drift slowly over the Gulf Stream
on September 4th. Frances strengthened over the Gulf Stream to 110 mph as
shear weakened. Frances made landfall on Hutchinson Island, Florida on the 5th
with 105 mph winds. Most of the hurricane force winds were confined in the
eye wall, with areas in the outer bands reporting moderate tropical storm
conditions. Frances then moved across Florida and emerged into the Gulf of
Mexico as a tropical storm on the 6th, near Port Richey, Florida. France's
structure was badly hurt by land, so it didn't strengthen over water. Frances
made landfall in Florida's Big Bend on the 6th with 65 mph winds. Frances
recurved on the 7th and became a tropical depression on the 7th over West
Virginia. On the 9th Frances became extra-tropical, and went over New York
with gale force winds. Frances finally dissipated over the Gulf Of St. Lawrence,
Canada on September 10th.
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Casualty and Damage Overview
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7 deaths are attributed to Frances, 5 in Florida, 1 in Ohio, and 1 in the Bahamas.
There are 42 deaths indirectly related to Frances, 32 in Florida, 8 in Georgia, 1
in Ohio, and 1 in the Bahamas. Total damages due to Frances were $9 billion
in the U.S. This makes Frances one of the more severe hurricanes in U.S. history.
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Frances Hurricane Research Division Products
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Imagery
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Tracking Data
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Hurricane Frances
Time Lat Lon Wind(mph) Pressure Storm type
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 GMT 08/25/04 11.1N 35.2W 30 1009 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 08/25/04 11.2N 36.8W 35 1008 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 08/25/04 11.3N 38.3W 35 1007 Tropical Depression
18 GMT 08/25/04 11.5N 39.8W 40 1005 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 08/26/04 11.9N 41.5W 45 1003 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 08/26/04 12.3N 42.9W 50 1000 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 08/26/04 12.8N 44.5W 65 994 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 08/26/04 13.3N 45.8W 75 987 Category 1 Hurricane
0 GMT 08/27/04 13.7N 46.8W 80 984 Category 1 Hurricane
6 GMT 08/27/04 14.2N 47.8W 85 980 Category 1 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/27/04 14.7N 48.5W 105 970 Category 2 Hurricane
18 GMT 08/27/04 15.4N 49.3W 115 962 Category 3 Hurricane
0 GMT 08/28/04 15.9N 50.0W 115 962 Category 3 Hurricane
6 GMT 08/28/04 16.6N 50.9W 115 962 Category 3 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/28/04 17.2N 51.6W 120 958 Category 3 Hurricane
18 GMT 08/28/04 17.7N 52.3W 135 948 Category 4 Hurricane
0 GMT 08/29/04 18.1N 52.9W 135 948 Category 4 Hurricane
6 GMT 08/29/04 18.4N 53.6W 135 948 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/29/04 18.6N 54.4W 135 948 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 08/29/04 18.8N 55.0W 125 948 Category 3 Hurricane
0 GMT 08/30/04 18.9N 55.8W 120 954 Category 3 Hurricane
6 GMT 08/30/04 19.0N 56.8W 115 958 Category 3 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/30/04 19.2N 58.1W 115 956 Category 3 Hurricane
18 GMT 08/30/04 19.4N 59.3W 125 948 Category 3 Hurricane
0 GMT 08/31/04 19.6N 60.7W 125 946 Category 3 Hurricane
6 GMT 08/31/04 19.8N 62.1W 135 950 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 08/31/04 20.0N 63.5W 140 949 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 08/31/04 20.3N 65.0W 145 942 Category 4 Hurricane
0 GMT 09/01/04 20.6N 66.4W 140 941 Category 4 Hurricane
6 GMT 09/01/04 21.0N 67.9W 140 939 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 09/01/04 21.4N 69.1W 140 937 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 09/01/04 21.8N 70.4W 140 941 Category 4 Hurricane
0 GMT 09/02/04 22.2N 71.4W 140 939 Category 4 Hurricane
6 GMT 09/02/04 22.7N 72.5W 145 937 Category 4 Hurricane
12 GMT 09/02/04 23.2N 73.5W 140 939 Category 4 Hurricane
18 GMT 09/02/04 23.8N 74.3W 135 948 Category 4 Hurricane
0 GMT 09/03/04 24.2N 75.0W 120 948 Category 3 Hurricane
6 GMT 09/03/04 24.7N 75.7W 115 954 Category 3 Hurricane
12 GMT 09/03/04 25.3N 76.3W 110 958 Category 2 Hurricane
18 GMT 09/03/04 25.7N 77.1W 105 960 Category 2 Hurricane
0 GMT 09/04/04 26.0N 77.5W 100 960 Category 2 Hurricane
6 GMT 09/04/04 26.4N 77.9W 100 960 Category 2 Hurricane
12 GMT 09/04/04 26.8N 78.5W 105 962 Category 2 Hurricane
18 GMT 09/04/04 26.8N 79.1W 105 962 Category 2 Hurricane
0 GMT 09/05/04 27.0N 79.4W 110 958 Category 2 Hurricane
6 GMT 09/05/04 27.2N 80.2W 105 960 Category 2 Hurricane
12 GMT 09/05/04 27.4N 80.7W 90 969 Category 1 Hurricane
18 GMT 09/05/04 27.8N 81.7W 70 975 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 09/06/04 28.1N 82.3W 65 978 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 09/06/04 28.6N 83.3W 65 981 Tropical Storm
12 GMT 09/06/04 29.2N 83.7W 65 982 Tropical Storm
18 GMT 09/06/04 30.1N 84.0W 60 982 Tropical Storm
0 GMT 09/07/04 31.0N 84.6W 40 984 Tropical Storm
6 GMT 09/07/04 31.5N 85.0W 35 988 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 09/07/04 32.0N 85.2W 30 992 Tropical Depression
18 GMT 09/07/04 32.5N 85.1W 30 996 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 09/08/04 33.4N 84.7W 30 998 Tropical Depression
6 GMT 09/08/04 34.3N 84.3W 30 1000 Tropical Depression
12 GMT 09/08/04 36.1N 83.2W 30 1001 Tropical Depression
18 GMT 09/08/04 37.8N 82.1W 30 1002 Tropical Depression
0 GMT 09/09/04 38.7N 81.3W 30 1001 Extratropical Storm
6 GMT 09/09/04 40.5N 80.0W 35 1001 Extratropical Storm
12 GMT 09/09/04 42.8N 77.7W 40 1001 Extratropical Storm
18 GMT 09/09/04 44.3N 75.7W 35 1002 Extratropical Storm
0 GMT 09/10/04 45.3N 73.3W 30 1003 Extratropical Storm
6 GMT 09/10/04 46.2N 70.5W 25 1004 Extratropical Storm
12 GMT 09/10/04 46.6N 67.3W 25 1005 Extratropical Storm
18 GMT 09/10/04 47.2N 64.2W 25 1005 Extratropical Storm
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Tracking map courtesy of Plymouth
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Courtesy of NHC
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Selected Satellite Image
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Selected Hurricane Research Division Radar Image
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