Take a peek at peaks with mountain forecast

The National Weather Service has a new forecasting tool to help skiers and hikers prepare for conditions on popular summits, where it may be snowing sideways with a windchill near zero while it's sunny and pleasant in the valley below.

The Recreational Mountain Forecast features an online map on which users can click on 19 summits in Vermont and northern New York and get a detailed, hour-by-hour forecast. Among the locations: Blue Ridge, Whiteface and Mount Marcy, New York's highest and most popular peak. One of the most useful aspects of the mountain forecast is a timeline of how the weather will change at three-hour intervals throughout the day and night.

"If it looks like the conditions won't be good between 2 and 5 in the afternoon, you might go in the morning instead," said Paul Sisson, science officer at the National Weather Service's office in Burlington, Vt.

The interactive map is available at www.erh.noaa.gov/btv/mountain.