Daylight
Top of the Rock Visibility Today: Is It Worth Going Up?
The classic Midtown panorama, Empire State included in the view.
For today · 2026-09-27
60/100
Today is a genuine maybe — if you go, go 17:00–19:00. Heavy low cloud over the city.
Prices and availability on the partner’s site — compare this date against a better day.
Affiliate link — we may earn a commission if you book. It never affects our verdicts.
Weighing this against another deck? Top of the Rock vs Edge today · Empire State vs Top of the Rock today
Conditions at the deck · 27 Sept 2026, 10:00
- Temperature
- 14°C
- Cloud
- 100% · low 100%
- Wind
- 34 km/h · gusts 74
- Visibility
- 11 km
- Air quality
- AQI 31
Open-Meteo (forecast + air quality)
Altitude & cloud
Live· 10:08
Best window · 2026-09-2717:00–19:00America/New_York
Why
- Heavy low cloud over the city
- Clear close in, but haze trims the long-distance views
- Rain likely during this window
- Golden hour — the best light of the day
- Operating status unconfirmed
Outlook · America/New_York
- SunMAYBE60
- MonVIEW74
- TueVIEW78
- WedVIEW87
- ThuVIEW83
Deck facts
- 70th Floor
- 259 m above ground · 279 m ASL · Indoor & outdoor
- Local timezone
- America/New_York
Is it worth visiting on a cloudy day?
Top of the Rock's 70th-floor terrace sits at 279 m above sea level — squarely inside the altitude band Manhattan's low cloud layers most often occupy. There's no higher ticketed level to retreat to, so when a stratus deck settles over the city this is one of the first decks to lose its view entirely. A cloudy day here is a genuine coin flip, worth checking against the day's actual verdict rather than assuming the classic Midtown panorama will be there.
When is the best time to go up?
Because the outcome depends on exactly where the cloud base happens to sit that day, picking a day with a high base or a clearing trend matters more than picking an hour — check the best window above before you buy. On a clear day, late afternoon into golden hour gives the Empire State Building silhouette its best light, which is most of what people come here to photograph.
Common questions about Top of the Rock
- Is Top of the Rock worth it on a cloudy day?
- It depends entirely on how low the cloud is, and this is the Manhattan deck where that question is closest to a coin flip. At 279 m above sea level the terrace sits inside the band low stratus most often occupies, and there is no higher level to move to. A high overcast leaves the view intact; a base at 250 m does not. The verdict at the top of this page is computed from the day's measured cloud base and cloud top against that 279 m figure, which is exactly the calculation a general city forecast cannot do for you.
- Is Top of the Rock or the Empire State Building better for views?
- They answer different questions. Top of the Rock looks at the Empire State Building, which is the shot most people picture when they imagine the Manhattan skyline, and its terraces are unglazed. The Empire State Building is 56 m higher at its 86th floor and has a 381 m enclosed level above that, so it holds up better when the cloud base is marginal or the weather is rough. On a clear day the choice is about the photograph; on an uncertain one it is about altitude, and the Empire State has more of it.
- How high is Top of the Rock?
- The 70th-floor observation deck is 259 m above street level and about 279 m above sea level, on a building whose roof is the top — there is no mast or spire above the deck. Sea level is the figure this site scores against, because a cloud base is measured from sea level and does not care how tall the building underneath it is.
- Is Top of the Rock indoor or outdoor?
- It is both. The 67th and 69th floors are glazed and the 70th is an open-air terrace without glass in front of the view, which is the reason people choose it. That mix means wind and rain matter here — not as much as at a fully open deck like Edge, but enough that the comfort side of the score is weighted for it rather than ignored.
Updated · Sources: Open-Meteo (forecast + air quality), ViewOrSkip published-hours calendar (Tier 1, day-level, no live feed)
Updated · Sources: Open-Meteo (forecast + air quality)