Satellite Image of the Day: September 6, 2004
 (click here for previous images of the day)

Satellite: NOAA-15, one of NOAA's 850km-high (530 mile-high) Polar Orbiting satellites.
Flyover beginning 7:51am EDT
 Two images of now-Tropical Storm Frances (downgraded from a hurricane)
Frances crossing over Florida.
For more information on factors that influence the paths that hurricanes take, see Kevin Myatt's Weather Journal on the Roanoke Times website.
You can see the evolution of the path of Frances by checking out the previous Satellite Image of the Day pages on this site.
Click on the images below for a higher-resolution (>100k) version.
In each of these images, you'll find the small yellow circle marking the location of Radford University.

Note the sharp demarcation of a cold front extending from the Great lakes down to Texas. Fronts such as this can effect the paths that hurricanes take.
The average temperatures to the west of this cold front are about 100F colder than those on the eastern side of this front.
The early-morning shadows emphasize the edges of this front as w4ell as the westward extent of Frances.
Flyover beginning 8:44am EDT

The slow motion of Frances' path over the Florida panhandle is seen in this second image, taken less than three hours after the one at the left.
While no longer a hurricane, Frances continues to pull moisture from the Atlantic Ocean onto land that doesn't need it.
Note the continued clear skies over places such as Kentucky, where the two weather systems are getting ready to collide. This situation might not last long for those in the Bluegrass State.
Flyover beginning 11:35am EDT