Natural gas futures plunged on Tuesday after forecasts over the holiday weekend trended warmer for late January and early next month, diminishing prior expectations for a widespread winter freeze that would fuel robust heating demand.

Evening Markets

The February Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.546/MMBtu, down 19.1 cents day/day. March fell 16.7 cents to $2.529.

Spot gas prices were also under heavy pressure. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. dropped 15.5 cents to $2.690.

Following the shift in forecasts, EBW Analytics Group estimated a cumulative decline of 70.2 Bcf of demand compared to projections prior to the holiday weekend, when models had “called for a sustained cold air connection to develop” before the end of January.

“With only three or four weeks left in the heart...