November natural gas futures were up 3.9 cents to $3.205/MMBtu shortly before 9 a.m. ET Wednesday, with the winter strip continuing to rally on concerns over lean storage inventories even as overnight forecasts failed to impress.

Bespoke Weather Services noted small changes in the weather outlook overnight, with forecasts suggesting less intense cold for the eastern third of the country later this month.

“Cooling demand expectations in the short-term did tick up, as we look for widespread heat across the South and East” to produce near-normal gas-weighted degree days (GWDD), the firm said. “However, we also saw any cold struggle to displace warmth in the East until at least Days 12-13 of the forecast, as cold risks continually get pushed back in favor of more ridging in the East.”

Bespoke pointed to “conflicting factors” pressuring the natural gas market heading into Wednesday’s session.

“On the bullish side we once again have a supportive January contract this morning that shows storage and tightness fears lingering, which could limit any pullback. The latest in-week burns have not loosened yet even with this recent rally, and this could keep cash stronger today with elevated GWDDs into the end of the week,” the firm said. But on the bearish side “Canadian imports are back higher and forecasts did not trend any more impressive.”

Bespoke also said it expects larger injections the next few weeks from the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly storage reports, adding that for Thursday’s report “any build above 90 Bcf we see skewing risk lower.”

Intercontinental Exchange EIA financial weekly index futures settled Tuesday at a build of 93 Bcf for the upcoming report.

EBW Analytics Group CEO Andy Weissman noted last week’s bullish storage miss, delays to the Atlantic Sunrise and Nexus pipeline projects and recent production declines because of pipeline maintenance as factors supporting the hefty gains in natural gas futures since mid-September.

“These developments have reduced projected mid-November storage by more than 50 Bcf, igniting fears that supplies will be inefficient this winter,” Weissman said. “Profit-taking prior to tomorrow’s storage report is likely to limit today’s gains. Absent a bearish storage surprise, however, the November contract could challenge resistance as high as $3.27-3.31 during the next few sessions.”

From a technical standpoint, ICAP Technical Analysis analyst Brian LaRose pegged a band of targets from $3.220-3.275 as resistance following Tuesday’s gains.

“Should this band of resistance fail to halt the rally the next step up becomes $3.419-3.494,” LaRose said.

November crude oil was trading about 14 cents higher at around $75.37/bbl shortly before 9 a.m. ET, while November RBOB gasoline was close to even at around $2.1262/gal.