later, the storm attained its peak intensity with winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) and a minimum pressure of . Under the influence of an upper cold low, Earl began re-curving and accelerated to the northeast. By 1200 UTC on September 10, Earl weakened to a tropical storm. Six hours later, Earl transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, while centered about halfway between the Azores and Greenland. Hurricane Frances A strong low pressure system moved off the African coast on September 5. By the following day, it developed into Tropical Depression Ten while a short distance off the west coast of Africa. About 18 hours later, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Frances. The National Hurricane Center did not issue advisories until 1600 UTC on September 7, at which time the system was already a tropical storm. By early on September 8, Frances had reached hurricane status, though it was not operationally upgraded until about 16 hours later. After becoming a hurricane, Frances began to rapidly strengthen, and became a Category 2 hurricane later that day. Early on September 9, the storm further intensified to a Category 3 hurricane. At 0600 UTC on that day, Frances attained its peak intensity with winds of 115 mph (185 km/h) and a minimum pressure of . After peak intensity, Frances began to weaken and was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane later on September 9. Following day, the storm fluctuated between Category 2 and Category 1 hurricane strengthen. While curving northwestward on September 13, Frances remained steady in intensity as a Category 2 hurricane. Eventually, Frances re-curved northward, thereby avoiding any land. After minimal change in intensity, Frances weakened to a Category 1 hurricane while tracking northeastward on September 17. After briefly heading northward, the storm re-curved back to the northeast. Early on September 20, Frances weakened to a tropical storm, before merging with a frontal low while centered about halfway between Greenland and Iceland. Reports of strong tropical storm force winds were received from ships, but no damage was reported except for minor squalls in Cape Verde. Tropical Storm Hermine A tropical wave exited the west coast of Africa on September 11 and tracked westward with minimal development until reaching the Caribbean Sea. By September 20, a low-level circulation had developed and the system was then classified as Tropical Depression Eleven, while located almost midway between Panama and Jamaica. While heading almost due