Frances Is Category 4, Aiming For East FL
Wednesday, September 1st, 2004 Catastrophe PropertyHurricane Frances has strengthened substantially as it continues on a northwestern path over the open waters of the Northern Caribbean. Maximum sustained winds remain near 140 mph (220 km/hr) with higher gusts, making the storm a Category Four Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Miami‘s National Hurricane Center, which is closely monitoring the storm‘s progress, said that, "while fluctuations in intensity are expected during the next 24 hours, Frances could still intensify a little more before reaching the hurricane warning area [for the U.S.]. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 kms) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 kms)." Frances is potentially a far more deadly hurricane than Charley, mainly because it‘s almost seven times bigger.
