New York City, November 15, 2012

★★★ Slow and subtle, until it wasn’t. The blue morning sky gradually whited over into midday, with odd ripples of gray in it. There was just enough enfeebled light to bring out the late, full autumn colors: classic flame-orange a block to the south, wine off toward the river. The Hudson itself was a smooth smudge of pencil and pastels. Then, just as gradually, the white sky went blue again. Shadows and window-flares returned. Late afternoon brought in dull silver and peach — erupting suddenly into hot red-pink, a lurid, arresting reflection inside a north-facing windowpane. Everyone hurried to the west windows. Below the pink was a slash of green. “There is no green sky,” the kindergartener insisted. “Is that just because it’s cold?” As good a guess as any.

Photo of yesterday’s weather by Rebecca Murphey