Hurricane Frances made landfall just after midnight on September 5th near Vero Beach as a Category 2 storm. The hurricane continued to move slowly west northwestward across central Florida to near Bartow by 2 pm, and just northeast of Tampa by 8 pm, when it was downgraded to a tropical storm.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 TBW wrote it up.
Hurricane Frances made landfall just after midnight on September 5th near Vero Beach as a Category 2 storm. The hurricane continued to move slowly west northwestward across central Florida to near Bartow by 2 pm, and just northeast of Tampa by 8 pm, when it was downgraded to a tropical storm. It then emerged back into the Gulf of Mexico near Hudson shortly before midnight. Hurricane Frances took almost 24 hours to move through the Florida peninsula. Frances continued northwestward through the northern gulf of Mexico, making a second landfall on the afternoon of September 6th in the Florida big bend near Tallahassee as a tropical storm. The damage totals listed were caused by trees downed on homes and overland and river flooding. In Polk County there were four indirect deaths reported; two were separate incidents of people falling off of a roof while cleaning storm debris and two FEMA contract employees were killed when their aircraft clipped a tower and crashed while they were spraying for mosquitoes due to excessive standing water from Hurricane Frances. In Highlands County there was one indirect death of a man falling off his roof while cleaning storm debris. In Sumter County there was one indirect death of a man by carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator running inside his home. The damage total listed was estimated by doubling the insured losses unless otherwise noted. The doubling accounts for uninsured losses and damage to the public infrastructure. Flood damage was included within these totals because it was not possible to extract the information from the available data.
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 Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 5, 5:52 AM EST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 652 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 TORNADO WATCH 799 IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM FOR COUNTIES NORTH OF POLK...HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...AND GULF WATERS NORTH OF ANNA MARIA ISLAND. THIS EXTENDS THE PREVIOUS WATCH ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND NORTH...WITH THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES BEING DROPPED. //REST THE SAME EXCEPT WARNING LINE// .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH TUE)...THE CENTER OF FRANCES IS NOW ALMOST FULLY ASHORE AND CONTINUES TO ROTATE BANDS OF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS THROUGH THE CWFA. FRANCES WILL DOMINATE THE REGION TODAY AS IT MOVES SLOWLY ACROSS THE STATE ON A NORTHWESTERLY TRACK. AM FAIRLY COMFORTABLE WITH CURRENT WARNINGS AND FORECASTS AND HAVE MADE FEW CHANGES. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS WILL SPREAD INTO THE CWFA THIS MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON WITH CATEGORICAL POPS FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. FRANCES IS EXPECTED BE OVER GULF WATERS TONIGHT AND CONTINUE TO MOVE AWAY WITH A GRADUAL DECREASE IN WINDS AND POPS OVER THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. CURRENT AND DETAILED INFO ON EXPECTED LOCAL EFFECTS FROM HURRICANE FRANCES WILL BE CONTAINED IN THE LATEST LOCAL TROPICAL STATEMENT FROM THIS OFFICE. .LONG TERM...(TUE NIGHT - SAT)...FRANCES WILL DEPART THE AREA BUT A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT TO THE WIND FLOW WITH THE RIDGE WELL TO THE EAST WILL KEEP MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY OVER THE AREA RESULTING IN MAINLY AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TAPERING OFF IN COVERAGE BY SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR SEASONAL NORMS. && .MARINE...TROPICAL STORM WARNING IN PLACE AND SMALL CRAFT ARE ADVISED TO STAY IN PORT. && .FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS. && PRELIMINARY NUMBERS TPA 87 77 89 77 / + + 70 40 FMY 87 77 88 77 / 70 70 70 40 GIF 86 76 89 76 / + + 70 40 SRQ 87 78 88 78 / + + 70 40 BKV 86 76 87 76 / + + 70 40 && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR MANATEE...SARASOTA...DESOTO...CHARLOTTE ..CITRUS...HERNANDO...HILLSBOROUGH...LEVY...PASCO...PINELLAS... AND LEE COUNTIES. FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ALL OF FORECAST AREA. INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING FOR SUMTER...POLK...HIGHLANDS...AND HARDEE COUNTIES THROUGH TONIGHT. TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM TODAY FOR LEVY...CITRUS... HERNANDO...PASCO...SUMTER...PINELLAS...HILLSBOROUGH...AND POLK COUNTIES. && SHORT TERM...RKR LONG TERM...CP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 521 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-055>057-060>062-065-051218- CHARLOTTE-CITRUS-DE SOTO-HARDEE-HERNANDO-HIGHLANDS-HILLSBOROUGH-LEE- LEVY-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SARASOTA-SUMTER- 521 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY: ...HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES TO MOVE INLAND... A TROPICAL STORM WARNING CONTINUES OVER COASTAL COUNTIES AND THE COASTAL WATERS WITH AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING FOR INTERIOR COUNTIES. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE AREA. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS OF 35 TO 50 MPH...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS...CAN BE EXPECTED OVER WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA TODAY. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE CLOSEST TO THE TRACK OVER INLAND COUNTIES THIS MORNING...WHEN HURRICANE FORCE SUSTAINED WINDS OR WIND GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 6 TO 12 INCHES NORTH AND EAST OF FRANCES AND 3 TO 6 INCHES ON THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDES OF FRANCES. HOWEVER...LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY OCCUR. MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING MAY DEVELOP OVER MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA TODAY...WITH MOST RIVERS AND STREAMS RISING OUT OF THEIR BANKS. RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS...CREEKS...AND RIVERS ACROSS THE REGION SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SIGNIFICANT FLOODING AND TAKE ACTIONS TO PROTECT PROPERTY. DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY: NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY WILL DECREASE TUESDAY TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK WITH MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING TIMING. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ASKED TO RELAY REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN RUSKIN. WE THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. 09
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 448 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ042-043-048>051-055-051000- CITRUS-HERNANDO-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-SUMTER- 448 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...A FEEDER BAND FROM FRANCES WILL BRING WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH TO THE COASTAL COUNTIES FROM INVERNESS THROUGH TAMPA BAY TO SARASOTA THROUGH 6 PM... SOME DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SHORT LIVED TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP AT ANY TIME. NOAH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 448 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ042-043-048>051-055-051000- CITRUS-HERNANDO-HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS-SUMTER- 448 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...A FEEDER BAND FROM FRANCES WILL BRING WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH TO THE COASTAL COUNTIES FROM INVERNESS THROUGH TAMPA BAY TO SARASOTA THROUGH 6 AM... SOME DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SHORT LIVED TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP AT ANY TIME. NOAH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 500 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ052-056-057-061-051100- DESOTO-HARDEE-HIGHLANDS-POLK- 500 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...THE OUTER EYE WALL OF HURRICANE FRANCES WILL BRING DAMAGING HURRICANE FORCE WINDS TO SEBRING AND LAKE PLACID THROUGH 8 AM... A STRONG FEEDER BAND ROTATING AROUND THE EYE WALL WILL BRING GUSTS TO 55 MPH TO LAKE WALES...WAUCHULA...AND ARCADIA. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT. SHORT LIVED TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP AT ANY TIME. NOAH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 638 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ039-042-043-048>052-GMZ830-850-853-870-873-051100- CITRUS-HERNANDO-HILLSBOROUGH-LEVY-PASCO-PINELLAS-POLK-SUMTER- 638 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 799 IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 PM EDT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RUSKIN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PASCO...SUMTER...LEVY...CITRUS...HILLSBOROUGH...HERNANDO...POLK AND PINELLAS COUNTIES. AS HURRICANE FRANCES MOVES SLOWLY WEST NORTHWEST INTO WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON THE THREAT OF TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE WATCH AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR UPDATES AND OR WARNINGS. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE) JCM
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL 827 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ049>051-055-051300- HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS- 827 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT PASCO...HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...AND MANATEE COUNTIES... A STRONG SPIRAL BAND ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE FRANCES MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 45 MPH WILL BRING WIND GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH TO LUTZ... CARROLLWOOD...WEST PARK...CLEARWATER...PINELLAS PARK...TAMPA...AND TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...UNTIL 900 AM EDT. THESE STRONG WINDS MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. MINOR DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. MCMICHAEL
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL...CORRECTED 827 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 FLZ049>051-055-051300- HILLSBOROUGH-MANATEE-PASCO-PINELLAS- 827 AM EDT SUN SEP 5 2004 ...STRONG WINDS WILL AFFECT PASCO...HILLSBOROUGH...PINELLAS...AND MANATEE COUNTIES... A STRONG SPIRAL BAND ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE FRANCES MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 45 MPH WILL BRING WIND GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH TO LUTZ... CARROLLWOOD...WEST PARK...CLEARWATER...PINELLAS PARK...TAMPA... BRADENTON...PARRISH...ELLENTON...AND TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...UNTIL 900 AM EDT. THESE STRONG WINDS MAY CAUSE LOOSE OBJECTS TO BLOW AROUND. MINOR DAMAGE TO TREE LIMBS AND WIRES IS POSSIBLE. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOTORISTS MAY WANT TO DELAY TRAVEL. MCMICHAEL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 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: 5422751, 5422752, 5422792, 5422793.