Natural gas futures pared their recent gains in early trading Tuesday as updated forecasts showed less cold reaching the eastern Lower 48 in early December.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

Coming off a 47.3 cent rally in the previous session, the December Nymex contract was off 15.8 cents to $6.618/MMBtu at around 8:45 a.m. ET.

The factors driving Monday’s price surge “weren’t clear-cut,” according to NatGasWeather.

The firm highlighted “the risk of a railroad strike and the potential for a colder U.S. pattern Dec. 1-7” as two possible explanations for the rally.

Looking at updated forecasts, after trending “a little warmer” Monday for the early December time frame, the weather data extended warmer trends overnight, NatGasWeather said.

“Frigid air is expected into the West and...