Chillier trending springtime forecasts over the weekend contributed further bullish momentum for rallying natural gas futures, which continued to advance in early trading Monday. The May Nymex contract was up 27.6 cents to $7.576/MMBtu at around 8:55 a.m. ET.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Forecasts trended cooler over the long holiday weekend to increase weather-driven demand expectations, with heating demand still taking precedence over cooling demand at this point in the season, according to Bespoke Weather Services. 

“The changes were spread out, with the next couple of days colder, and then another cooler change coming next week, as the next western U.S. trough that arrives this week ejects eastward, similar to its last couple of predecessors,” Bespoke said. “The cooler bias of the pattern is a...