Friday, September 3rd, 2004 — Miami‘s National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Frances‘ sustained wind speeds of have weakened somewhat, and the storm‘s forward motion has slowed; however the NHC warned that Frances is "still a dangerous category three hurricane."
Frances continues to move toward the west-northwest at around 9-mph (14 km/hr). "Some decrease in forward speed is expected during the next 24 hours," said the NHC "Sustained winds are now near 120 mph (195 km/hr) with higher gusts. Frances is still a strong category three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible during the next 24 hours. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 80 miles (130 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 miles (295 km)."