The cash market recorded strong advances Wednesday based on a combination of expanding cold weather and the previous day’s futures uptick of nearly 20 cents. Northeast citygates led the way as prices rose between about a nickel and nearly 80 cents. Northern Natural-Ventura was the only point failing to see a double-digit gain.

Besides the next-day impact from futures, the market got a solid push from dropping temperatures in several areas after a period of relatively mild conditions. Winter storm alerts were posted for 18 of the Lower 48 states, and significant snowfalls were forecast for Thursday in much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Midcontinent and Midwest. In the West, snow will mostly be limited to mountainous areas but will extend as far south as the Four Corners section of the Southwest, according to The Weather Channel.

However, the price-boosting spate of colder weather looks to be fairly short-lived. That was somewhat reflected by many of Wednesday’s smallest gains being concentrated in the Midcontinent and Midwest, where warmups are due to have commenced by the weekend. And despite the substantial advances across the board Wednesday, traders continue to report subdued market activity.

A Midcontinent/Midwest marketer said the latest blast of cold in his area actually started Sunday. After being around 70 degrees last Friday, his city was in the mid-teens Wednesday. But temperatures will be rising again by the weekend, so if prices don’t start going back down Thursday, he was certain that they will Friday.

The marketer added that the lull in daily trading allowed him to deal with more and more people who are coming out with long-term supply RFPs (requests for proposals), “and that’s keeping me busy.”

The Northeast is getting “more like normal” after being relatively warm for a while, said a utility buyer in the region. The weather there is due to get warmer again Saturday but will still be close to freezing, he said, adding that he thinks prices will start to soften as early as Thursday. He noted that “storage ratchets” are kicking in for his company and others. Storage operators’ requirements that customers lower their account volumes by specified percentages before certain dates should help keep a lid on further price increases, the buyer said.

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