A new summer weather forecast by Weather Services International (WSI) could be bearish for gas prices because of cooler than normal temperatures expected all along the East Coast and throughout California from June through August, which certainly will help to minimize heavy cooling loads and allow greater gas storage injections. However, hotter than normal temperatures in July and particularly in August in the Midcontinent states and Texas will drive up gas demand, helping to offset weaker market conditions elsewhere.

WSI forecasts a cool summer in the major cities along the East Coast, Southeast and in California. Warmer than normal temperatures are expected for more of the western two-thirds of the nation with particularly warm temperatures in the Plains states.

In June WSI predicts the Northeast, Mid Atlantic, Southeast and coastal California will see cool temperatures with the coolest temperatures relative to normal in the Northeast. The warmer-than-normal weather will be in the Plains, Ohio Valley and most of the western half of the country with the hottest temperatures in Texas.

In July, hotter-than-normal temperatures will be in the Pacific Northwest, northern and central Rockies and the Plains, WSI said, with the largest high temperature anomalies in the southern Plains. Cool temperatures are expected in all cities east of the Mississippi, along with California and parts of the Southwest.

In August, the cool weather is expected to remain in the East and California with the coolest temperatures relative to normal in the Mid Atlantic and Southeast. However, warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected in all other regions with the largest high temperature anomalies in the Plains states.

“We expect the near or slightly below normal temperatures to redevelop in the Southwest in June, while [the National Weather Service] is forecasting above normal temperatures in that region,” said WSI’s Todd Crawford. “We also expect the summer to be cooler than normal in the Southeast, while [the National Weather Service] is forecasting warmer than normal temperatures in that region.”

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above normal temperatures in the Southwest, eastern and Southern California and the southern Rockies, as well as most of Texas, the Gulf Coast and the Southeast. The rest of the country could go either way, according to the latest data.

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