Thursday's projections showed Frances largely staying away from Beaufort and hitting somewhere along the Florida coast, said Bob Bright, a meteorologist at the Charleston office of the National Weather Service.
"We are not expecting anything significant at this time," Bright forecasted for the Lowcountry.
But any shift in the storm pattern could quickly make Frances a serious threat to the Lowcountry.
Officials at Beaufort County Emergency Management said Thursday evening that the storm's track had not changed, and the county should be spared the brunt of the storm.
Florida, on the other hand, likely won't be as lucky.
About 2.5 million residents were told to clear out ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit Florida in a decade. Other people in the 300-mile stretch covered by hurricane warnings rushed to fortify their homes with plywood and storm shutters, and buy water, gas and canned food.
At 5 p.m., the hurricane was centered 375 miles southeast of West Palm Beach, Fla., and was moving northwest at close to 10 mph. Hurricane-force winds extended up to 80 miles from its center.
This could be the first time since 1950 that two major storms have hit Florida so close together. On Aug. 13, Hurricane Charley splintered billions of dollars worth of homes, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands and killed 27 people when it tore across the state.
About 14.6 million of Florida's 17 million resident live in the areas under hurricane watches and warnings.
Florida residents and tourists streamed inland Thursday in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Traffic backed up for miles on sections of Interstate 95, the main north-south highway along Florida's east coast, and was also heavy on parts of I-4, which crosses the peninsula to connect Daytona Beach, Orlando and Tampa.
Most people who were told to leave were in South Florida -- 300,000 in Palm Beach County, 250,000 in Broward County and 320,000 in Miami-Dade County.
The last time two major storms hit Florida so close together was 54 years ago, when Hurricane Easy hit the Tampa area and Hurricane King struck Miami about six weeks later. Neither storm was as powerful as Charley or Frances.
News that Frances would likely spare Beaufort County excited area tourists.
In the middle of their Lowcountry holiday from their home in Lancashire, England, Maragaret and Hadyn Gigg are happy their Beaufort experience will be left untouched, but are wondering what the next leg of their trip in Florida will include.
"We're watching the telly, and we'll see how it goes," Margaret Gigg said.
While Beaufort County should be able to avoid evacuation headaches, the storm could devastate fast-eroding Hunting Island State Park.
Earlier this year, Hurricane Alex caused about 4 feet of beach erosion, and Charley downed many trees.
Ashley Berry, assistant park manager, said tides were already higher than normal Thursday.
"Right now, the tides are already on top of the dunes in places, and it's still a day before it gets as close as it could potentially could get," she said.
On a day trip to Beaufort from a vacation in Savannah on Thursday, Pete and Joyce Russell were glad to be away from their home in Orlando, Fla. They were planning on waiting out Frances.
"We just cleaned up after Charley," Joyce Russell said.
"What can you do?" Joyce Russell said. "It's in the hands of Mother Nature, and there's nothing we can do about it."