AN UNBIASED VIEW OF SAFFIR SIMPSON SCALE

Westerly wind shear then induced Frances to weaken into a category 2 hurricane from the time it passed over the northwestern Bahamas about the 4th . Frances made landfall near Stuart, Florida just after midnight on the 5th with 105 m.p.h. (category 2) optimum winds. Frances steadily weakened because it moved slowly throughout the Florida Peninsula,