The eastern U.S. was so cloudless last week due to a massive high pressure system that you could actually see fall colors from space.

Whoa I didn't know you could see state and county lines from space. I guess maps are more realistic than I thought!

Imagine how much work it must be to chalk those lines every time it rains.
- Bro this ain’t the 1800s, we’re obviously using LED light strips for that now. The downside is that a single section goes dark and we lose mapping data for the entire northeast. Totally worth it though when they turn on the strobe effect.
I'm no weatherologist, but I think those may just be temporary.
- What does weatherology have to do with landology? Educate yourself
- You could probably handle lots of different subjects, Squidster

Those lines, too. Did they pick where the states and burrough were based on those white lines?

No, I'm pretty sure it's like a baseball game. Some dude runs out there every so often and chalks the boundaries a mile or so in width so you can see them from space
- Gotta hate when a flood happens and all of a sudden Florida and Georgia become one state.
- Not all heroes wear capes.
No, England didn't set the borders on their way out, during this incident

Would be better without the grid.

What do you mean? Those lines aren't really there? But they are crucial to electing the president. And the one at the very bottom is important to keep the brown people out. How could they not be real?
In terms of the visual beauty of it, I agree. But the grid does help people familiar with the U.S. orient themselves.
- You have those big ass lakes and still need a country grid to orient yourselfes?
- Let's be honest, most americans can't point their house out on a map unless it's googlemaps.

Why are the city and county lines present?

Because they're always there, haven't you gone to the edge of your county and looked at the lines? My favorites are the ones that run right through man made stuff like streets and farms.
- this is how I thought longitude and latitude worked when I was little. The boat captains would just go over it like a bump on the road
- It can be tough replacing your roof if you’re on one of the lines. They can sue you if the roofers don’t get it right
I messed around with listening and decoding NOAA satellites at home and depending on the satellite they decode with the states outlined like this. It's a fun hobby that uses one of those digital antennas,some copper wire and some open source programs.

This image also illustrates how artificially brown crop land is. I live in the intermountain west and didn't expect to see that ground color in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio...

They've been in a drought most of the summer. But ya, also the crops have been pretty much all harvested before this picture was taken.
One of the things I definitely do like living in Indiana is all the trees. In L.A., where I lived for a decade, it was mostly palms and conifers, and then Joshua trees further out. And they're not all that attractive to me in comparison. Our house used to be surrounded by giant oaks that it was built around. Unfortunately we lost some in recent storms and others were too sick to not be a danger. We still have, I think, 5 of them left and a persimmon tree. We also have a playground that we're going to dismantle and replace with another tree. Something local that grows relatively rapidly. Maybe a pawpaw? Not sure yet. Terre Haute, where I live, is famous for its sycamores (to the point that it's the ISU sports team is the Sycamores), so that's an option, but they're kind of boring trees IMO.
- I have a giant oak tree next to my house, perfectly positioned so that my house is in direct sunlight in the morning but completely shaded by the tree from noon onwards, so even when it's 100°F outside my house doesn't get above the low 80s. I love that tree - except for right now when I have to rake the fucking yard.
- Terre Haute sounds great! I live up by Elkhart, and while we have way too much farmland, I can't deny how great our forests are up here. We have bogs, too, which are just magical ecosystems.
- Ya, where I live, trees don't necessarily grow even along the river or in the mountains. Berry season is great, tho!
It is harvest season and most crops are brown when it's time to harvest.

Unfortunately, no clouds also means no rain - it’s a dustbowl here in Maryland!

On the other hand, "no rain" is a banger.
- Great now that'll be stuck in my head all day. I just want someone to say to meeee oh oh oh ooh!

Reminds me of the Rimworld world view

The great lakes are stunning.

That's got to make for some nice photos even at ground level.

I agree. You could get some amazing vistas from the top of a cliff or mountain or high hill. It makes me what distance the visibility was.

The colours have been exceptionally magnificent this year in Ontario.

Same in Colorado where we usually only get Green and Yellow (aspens). This year red is vibrant. I miss that having grown up in Virginia with its gorgeous fall colors.
They're always beautiful here in Indiana, but they sure seem more vibrant this year.

I just hope that's not some sign of something bad. It seems like every time something seems good like this it's because of climate change or something.

well, just get the sun in your eyes now and you may be surprised to find it's not a dream.

I can see my house!

How many of y'all are tracking counties lived in?

I got 2 on my bingo card, but current is not pictured.

It's interesting to me how you can tell red states from blue states based on how their counties are divided. Up north is nice, squared, organized. But once you get into Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, the county lines drastically change to a chaotic, gerrymandered mess.

It's not the politics, its. the geography. The counties that seem chaotic make perfect sense on the ground where the lines follow natural features in the land such as rivers and mountains.
- Yeah you can even follow the lines along the Appalachian, the very subject of this post. The blue north east is also very chaotic. The square boxes are mostly the midwest with very featureless flat geography, and those sparse country states tend to trend red.
You do know that voting district lines and County lines aren't the same thing, right?
I'm afraid it's not that simple. I'm up north in Indiana. It's very much a red state. South of us is Kentucky, which is mostly red, but it's governor is a Democrat. East of us is Ohio, which is sort of a mix, but Republicans mostly control it. West of us is Illinois, which is really only a blue state because of Chicago. Most of the rest of it is red. Finally, north of us is Michigan, which is a blue state but also full of crazy right-wing militias, a group of whom got caught with a plot to kidnap the governor. Not sure if they have been convicted yet.
- Hmm... Then maybe I'm full of shit.
  
  I wonder why there's such a drastic change between those states then. And it seems like there's a clear line where it falls apart, so I chalked it up to party influence.
I'm surprised no one has brought it up so far. This is from way back when the US was still expanding east to west. Land Ordinance of 1785

It was literally just a means of dividing up the land to make it easier to manage. This is why much of the plains states follow such rectangular county/state lines between water geography.

Edit: States that had their counties/borders established before this act will have more organic geography following boundaries. Counties/States settled after 1785 will display this grid-like pattern.