[Moose4]

Correct. Winds measured up where the Hurricane Hunters fly are higher than surface winds, which is what the NHC uses to categorize a storm. They'll use that flight-level wind of 139 knots in a formula to estimate the surface wind, and that's what gets reported.

My guess is they'll say 115 or 120 knots, which is still a Category Four. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Frances a particularly big mama size-wise? That thing looks awfully big compared to some others.

}:-)4

[dirtboy]

Here's a big hurricane and a compact hurricane for reference:

Looks like Frances is between the two in size - Floyd was hugh. But both went through very strong intensivication after they swung back westerward after a NW track.