Hurricane Frances (2004)

Track map, landfall & timeline · Atlantic · August 25 – September 10, 2004

Peak wind

144 mph

232 km/h · Aug 31

Peak category

Cat 4

Saffir–Simpson

Lowest pressure

935 mb

Landfalls

Bahamas · Florida

Lifetime

16.8 d

Aug 25 – Sep 10

Distance

5,292 mi

8,515 km

ACE

46.9

storm energy

TD TS Cat 1 2 3 4 5 · dashed = post-tropical / remnant low. During the replay the shaded rings show the storm’s wind field as analysed by NHC — 39+, 58+ and 74+ mph winds, quadrant by quadrant. Click any point or table row to jump there.

01 · The story

What happened with Frances

Hurricane Frances (2004) was a Category 4 hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic season. It formed on August 25, 2004, reached its peak of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 935 mb on August 31, 2004, and made landfall 6 times — first at 24.0°N, 74.5°W on September 2, 2004 as a Category 3 hurricane (127 mph). Later landfalls: at 24.6°N, 75.6°W on September 3, 2004 as a Category 3 hurricane (115 mph); at 25.1°N, 76.1°W on September 3, 2004 as a Category 2 hurricane (109 mph); 29 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas on September 4, 2004 as a Category 2 hurricane (104 mph); and more. It rapidly intensified by 41 mph in 24 hours (to 104 mph on August 27, 2004). The storm lasted 16.8 days and travelled about 5,292 miles (8,515 km).

02 · Intensity

Wind and pressure, hour by hour

Maximum sustained wind (mph) — hover or drag to scrub the map

03 · Impact

Landfalls and cities in the path

Landfall (UTC)	Where	Strength	Pressure
September 2, 2004 · 20:00 UTC	at 24.0°N, 74.5°W	Cat 3 127 mph	948 mb
September 3, 2004 · 06:00 UTC	at 24.6°N, 75.6°W	Cat 3 115 mph	954 mb
September 3, 2004 · 10:00 UTC	at 25.1°N, 76.1°W	Cat 2 109 mph	956 mb
September 4, 2004 · 10:00 UTC	29 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas	Cat 2 104 mph	961 mb
September 5, 2004 · 05:00 UTC	near Stuart, Florida	Cat 2 104 mph	960 mb
September 6, 2004 · 18:00 UTC	29 mi SE of Tallahassee, Florida	TS 58 mph	982 mb

Closest approach to major cities

City	Distance to center	When (UTC)	Storm strength then
Orlando, Florida	54 mi	Sep 5 · 19:00 UTC	TS 68 mph
Tampa, Florida	14 mi	Sep 6 · 00:00 UTC	TS 63 mph
Atlanta, Georgia	9 mi	Sep 8 · 03:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Meads, Kentucky	51 mi	Sep 8 · 19:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	direct hit	Sep 9 · 06:00 UTC	TD 35 mph
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada	66 mi	Sep 9 · 20:00 UTC	TD 33 mph
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada	70 mi	Sep 9 · 20:00 UTC	TD 33 mph
Montréal, Quebec, Canada	20 mi	Sep 10 · 00:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Laval, Quebec, Canada	27 mi	Sep 10 · 00:00 UTC	TD 29 mph
Québec, Quebec, Canada	54 mi	Sep 10 · 05:00 UTC	TD 24 mph

Distance from the city to the storm’s center, interpolated hourly between official fixes. Damaging winds, surge and rain reach far beyond the center.

04 · Timeline

Every official fix 75 positions

Date · UTC	Status	Wind	Pressure	Position	Nearest place
Aug 25 00:00	TD	29 mph	1009 mb	11.1°N 35.2°W	open ocean
Aug 25 06:00	TD	35 mph	1008 mb	11.2°N 36.8°W	open ocean
Aug 25 12:00	TD	35 mph	1007 mb	11.3°N 38.3°W	open ocean
Aug 25 18:00	TS	40 mph	1005 mb	11.5°N 39.8°W	open ocean
Aug 26 00:00	TS	46 mph	1003 mb	11.9°N 41.5°W	open ocean
Aug 26 06:00	TS	52 mph	1000 mb	12.3°N 42.9°W	open ocean
Aug 26 12:00	TS	63 mph	994 mb	12.8°N 44.5°W	open ocean
Aug 26 18:00	Cat 1	75 mph	987 mb	13.3°N 45.8°W	open ocean
Aug 27 00:00	Cat 1	81 mph	984 mb	13.7°N 46.8°W	open ocean
Aug 27 06:00	Cat 1	86 mph	980 mb	14.2°N 47.8°W	open ocean
Aug 27 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	970 mb	14.7°N 48.5°W	open ocean
Aug 27 18:00	Cat 3	115 mph	962 mb	15.4°N 49.3°W	open ocean
Aug 28 00:00	Cat 3	115 mph	962 mb	15.9°N 50.0°W	open ocean
Aug 28 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	962 mb	16.6°N 50.9°W	open ocean
Aug 28 12:00	Cat 3	121 mph	958 mb	17.2°N 51.6°W	open ocean
Aug 28 18:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	17.7°N 52.3°W	open ocean
Aug 29 00:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	18.1°N 52.9°W	open ocean
Aug 29 06:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	18.4°N 53.6°W	open ocean
Aug 29 12:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	18.6°N 54.4°W	open ocean
Aug 29 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	948 mb	18.8°N 55.0°W	open ocean
Aug 30 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	954 mb	18.9°N 55.8°W	open ocean
Aug 30 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	958 mb	19.0°N 56.8°W	open ocean
Aug 30 12:00	Cat 3	115 mph	956 mb	19.2°N 58.1°W	open ocean
Aug 30 18:00	Cat 3	127 mph	948 mb	19.4°N 59.3°W	open ocean
Aug 31 00:00	Cat 3	127 mph	946 mb	19.6°N 60.7°W	open ocean
Aug 31 06:00	Cat 4	132 mph	950 mb	19.8°N 62.1°W	178 mi NNE of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Aug 31 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	949 mb	20.0°N 63.5°W	148 mi NE of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Aug 31 18:00	Cat 4	144 mph	942 mb	20.3°N 65.0°W	135 mi N of Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands
Sep 1 00:00	Cat 4	138 mph	941 mb	20.6°N 66.4°W	149 mi N of San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sep 1 06:00	Cat 4	138 mph	939 mb	21.0°N 67.9°W	155 mi NE of Samaná, Dominican Republic
Sep 1 07:00	Cat 4	138 mph	935 mb	21.1°N 68.1°W	154 mi NNE of Samaná, Dominican Republic
Sep 1 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	937 mb	21.4°N 69.1°W	151 mi NE of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Sep 1 18:00	Cat 4	138 mph	941 mb	21.8°N 70.4°W	119 mi E of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sep 2 00:00	Cat 4	138 mph	939 mb	22.2°N 71.4°W	62 mi ENE of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sep 2 06:00	Cat 4	144 mph	937 mb	22.7°N 72.5°W	65 mi NNW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sep 2 08:00	Cat 4	144 mph	936 mb	22.8°N 72.8°W	79 mi NNW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sep 2 12:00	Cat 4	138 mph	939 mb	23.2°N 73.5°W	126 mi NW of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands
Sep 2 18:00	Cat 4	132 mph	948 mb	23.8°N 74.3°W	open ocean
Sep 2 20:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	127 mph	948 mb	24.0°N 74.5°W	open ocean
Sep 3 00:00	Cat 3	121 mph	948 mb	24.2°N 75.0°W	159 mi ESE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 3 06:00	Cat 3 LANDFALL	115 mph	954 mb	24.6°N 75.6°W	114 mi ESE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 3 06:00	Cat 3	115 mph	954 mb	24.7°N 75.7°W	106 mi ESE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 3 10:00	Cat 2 LANDFALL	109 mph	956 mb	25.1°N 76.1°W	78 mi E of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 3 12:00	Cat 2	109 mph	958 mb	25.3°N 76.3°W	67 mi ENE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 3 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	960 mb	25.7°N 77.1°W	47 mi NNE of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 4 00:00	Cat 2	98 mph	960 mb	26.0°N 77.5°W	66 mi N of Nassau, Bahamas
Sep 4 06:00	Cat 2	98 mph	960 mb	26.4°N 77.9°W	48 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 4 10:00	Cat 2 LANDFALL	104 mph	961 mb	26.6°N 78.2°W	29 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 4 12:00	Cat 2	104 mph	962 mb	26.8°N 78.5°W	21 mi NNE of Lucaya, Bahamas
Sep 4 18:00	Cat 2	104 mph	962 mb	26.8°N 79.1°W	11 mi NW of West End, Bahamas
Sep 5 00:00	Cat 2	109 mph	958 mb	27.0°N 79.4°W	34 mi NW of West End, Bahamas
Sep 5 05:00	Cat 2 LANDFALL	104 mph	960 mb	27.2°N 80.2°W	near Stuart, Florida
Sep 5 06:00	Cat 2	104 mph	960 mb	27.2°N 80.2°W	near Stuart, Florida
Sep 5 12:00	Cat 1	92 mph	969 mb	27.4°N 80.7°W	23 mi WNW of Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Sep 5 18:00	TS	69 mph	975 mb	27.8°N 81.7°W	10 mi SW of Lake Wales, Florida
Sep 6 00:00	TS	63 mph	978 mb	28.1°N 82.3°W	near Thonotosassa, Florida
Sep 6 06:00	TS	63 mph	981 mb	28.6°N 83.3°W	42 mi WNW of Bayonet Point, Florida
Sep 6 12:00	TS	63 mph	982 mb	29.2°N 83.7°W	73 mi WNW of Homosassa Springs, Florida
Sep 6 18:00	TS LANDFALL	58 mph	982 mb	30.1°N 84.0°W	29 mi SE of Tallahassee, Florida
Sep 7 00:00	TS	40 mph	984 mb	31.0°N 84.6°W	near Bainbridge, Georgia
Sep 7 06:00	TD	35 mph	988 mb	31.5°N 85.0°W	30 mi NE of Dothan, Alabama
Sep 7 12:00	TD	29 mph	992 mb	32.0°N 85.2°W	near Eufaula, Alabama
Sep 7 18:00	TD	29 mph	996 mb	32.5°N 85.1°W	near Columbus, Georgia
Sep 8 00:00	TD	29 mph	998 mb	33.4°N 84.7°W	near Newnan, Georgia
Sep 8 06:00	TD	29 mph	1000 mb	34.3°N 84.3°W	12 mi N of Milton, Georgia
Sep 8 12:00	TD	29 mph	1001 mb	36.1°N 83.2°W	9 mi SE of Morristown, Tennessee
Sep 8 18:00	TD	29 mph	1002 mb	37.8°N 82.1°W	46 mi SW of Charleston, West Virginia
Sep 9 00:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	1001 mb	38.7°N 81.3°W	30 mi NE of Charleston, West Virginia
Sep 9 06:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	1001 mb	40.5°N 80.0°W	near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sep 9 12:00	TS extratropical	40 mph	1001 mb	42.8°N 77.7°W	18 mi SSW of Henrietta, New York
Sep 9 18:00	TD extratropical	35 mph	1002 mb	44.3°N 75.7°W	17 mi N of Fort Drum, New York
Sep 10 00:00	TD extratropical	29 mph	1003 mb	45.3°N 73.3°W	near Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
Sep 10 06:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	1004 mb	46.2°N 70.5°W	10 mi NE of Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada
Sep 10 12:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	1005 mb	46.6°N 67.3°W	54 mi NNW of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Sep 10 18:00	TD extratropical	23 mph	1005 mb	47.2°N 64.2°W	59 mi NNW of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada

⬇ Download track data (CSV) · public-domain NOAA best track

Questions

Frequently asked questions

When and where did Frances make landfall?

Frances made landfall 6 times: at 24.0°N, 74.5°W on September 2, 2004 at 20:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 127 mph winds; at 24.6°N, 75.6°W on September 3, 2004 at 06:00 UTC, as a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds; at 25.1°N, 76.1°W on September 3, 2004 at 10:00 UTC, as a Category 2 hurricane with 109 mph winds; 29 mi E of Lucaya, Bahamas on September 4, 2004 at 10:00 UTC, as a Category 2 hurricane with 104 mph winds; near Stuart, Florida on September 5, 2004 at 05:00 UTC, as a Category 2 hurricane with 104 mph winds; 29 mi SE of Tallahassee, Florida on September 6, 2004 at 18:00 UTC, as a tropical storm with 58 mph winds.

What category was Frances?

At its peak on August 31, 2004, Frances was a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 144 mph (232 km/h) and a central pressure of 935 mb. At its first landfall it was a Category 3 hurricane.

How long did Frances last?

16.8 days, from August 25, 2004 to September 10, 2004, including 240 hours at hurricane strength (160 as a major hurricane). It travelled about 5,292 miles.

Where can I download the track data for Frances?

The 6-hourly positions, winds, pressure and wind radii are available as CSV on this page (track.csv) — they come from the NOAA National Hurricane Center's HURDAT2 database and are in the public domain.

Related storms

Keep exploring

Every storm named Frances

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
1961	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 4 132 mph	Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic	→
1968	Tropical Storm Frances Atlantic	TS 58 mph	—
1976	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1980	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 3 115 mph	—	→
1986	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→
1992	Hurricane Frances Atlantic	Cat 1 86 mph	—	→
1998	Tropical Storm Frances Atlantic	TS 63 mph	Texas	→
2004	Hurricane Frances · this page Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	Bahamas, Florida

Names are recycled every six years unless a storm is so deadly or costly that the name is retired.

Strongest storms of 2004

Year	Storm	Peak	Landfall
2004	Hurricane Ivan Atlantic	Cat 5 167 mph	Alabama, Texas	→
2004	Hurricane Charley Atlantic	Cat 4 150 mph	Florida, Artemisa, Cuba	→
2004	Hurricane Javier Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 150 mph	Baja California Sur, Mexico	→
2004	Hurricane Karl Atlantic	Cat 4 144 mph	—	→
2004	Hurricane Howard Eastern Pacific	Cat 4 138 mph	—	→
2004	Hurricane Alex Atlantic	Cat 3 121 mph	—	→
2004	Hurricane Jeanne Atlantic	Cat 3 121 mph	Florida, Bahamas	→
2004	Hurricane Darby Eastern Pacific	Cat 3 121 mph	—	→

See every 2004 storm on one map →

← Previous Atlantic stormTropical Storm Earl (2004)Next Atlantic storm →Hurricane Gaston (2004)

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