The center of category 2 Hurricane Frances reached the Florida East near Sewall's point in Martin County early on September 5th but began spreading hurricane force wind gusts across most of Central Florida by 11 pm on September 4th. Frances entered Central Florida moving west northwest at 7 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed the east half of the Florida Peninsula.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS MLB wrote it up.
The center of category 2 Hurricane Frances reached the Florida East near Sewall's point in Martin County early on September 5th but began spreading hurricane force wind gusts across most of Central Florida by 11 pm on September 4th. Frances entered Central Florida moving west northwest at 7 mph and maintained hurricane strength as it crossed the east half of the Florida Peninsula. Frances was downgraded to a tropical storm in the afternoon on the 5th when it was about 50 miles east of Tampa Bay. In Okeechobee County, little direct observational wind data is available, but wind estimates from the Hurricane Research Division show sustained hurricane force winds over most of the county as Frances crossed the county from east to west. Almost 700 residences were destroyed, with damage to 22,688 residences.Osceola County also suffered extensive wind damage to homes, mobile homes and businesses. Again, little wind data was available after the storm, but hurricane force wind gusts were estimated to have occurred over all of the county. Lake, Orange and Seminole counties were also hit hard by the rain bands on the north side of Hurricane Frances. Extensive damage to residences, businesses and public buildings were reported across the counties. It is difficult to assess damage amounts since the areas was swept by Hurricane Jeanne a few weeks later. The Lake County damage estimate was over 6 million dollars. Orlando International Airport reported a gust to 60 kts (69 mph). Sanford reported a gust to 61 kts (70 mph), and a home weather station in Clermont reported a gust to 56 kts (64 mph). Widespread damage in all the counties suggests that the area was swept by hurricane force wind gusts. Significant damage was done to the area landscape industry around Apopka.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 7:49 PM EST, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
850 PM EDT SAT SEP 4 2004
.DISCUSSION...
...CENTER OF DANGEROUS HURRICANE FRANCES DRIFTING WEST-NORTHWEST
TOWARD THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST...
...POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE IN
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA OVERNIGHT...
WFO MELBOURNE IS IN THE THICK OF HURRICANE OPS AS THE EYE OF
HURRICANE FRANCES WAS MOVING SLOWLY OVER THE GULF STREAM BETWEEN THE
FLORIDA MAINLAND AND GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND.
THE ENTIRE COUNTY WARNING AREA IS UNDER A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 8 AM
SUNDAY MORNING AS RAIN BANDS COME ASHORE OVERNIGHT. THE GREATEST
THREATS FROM FRANCES WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT FROM TORNADO...HIGH WIND
AND SURGE THREATS AS FRANCES MOVES ONSHORE OVERNIGHT...TO FLOODING
THREATS SUNDAY AS FRANCES DRIFTS SLOWLY THROUGH THE PENINSULA.
.MARINE...HURRICANE CONDITIONS IN PLACE. FORECAST WILL DEPEND ON
FUTURE NHC TRACKS OF FRANCES. FOR NOW...WILL BEGIN TO TAPER SEAS
BELOW 12FT SUN NIGHT INTO MON...SEAS BELOW 12 FEET FOR THE ENTIRE
AREA BY MON NIGHT AS FRANCES PULLS AWAY FROM THE STATE.
&&
.MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
...HURRICANE WARNING FLAGLER BEACH TO JUPITER INLET.
...INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING FOR INTERIOR VOLUSIA...LAKE...
SEMINOLE...ORANGE...OSCEOLA...AND OKEECHOBEE COUNTIES.
...FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA THRU SUNDAY.
...FLOOD WARNING ON THE ST JOHNS RIVER.
...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 8 AM SUNDAY ALL EC FL COUNTIES.
&&
WFO MELBOURNEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL
703 PM EDT SAT SEP 04 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0615 PM HURRICANE MELBOURNE 28.11N 80.64W
09/04/2004 BREVARD FL PUBLIC
TREE DOWN ON HOUSE AT 810 CEDAR DRIVE. TREE DOWN IN ROAD.
FENCES DOWN, DAMAGE TO CAR. REPORT RECEIVED AT 615 PM.
&&
JACOBSThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2004
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5424906, 5424908, 5424905, 5424907, 5424909.