That's flight-level winds, I believe. Not surface. It's still a 4.
If that is flight level you would have to imagine that it is at what? 133-135 surface?
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