A toasty temperature outlook for the first third of July helped natural gas futures extend their recent gains in early trading Tuesday. The expiring July Nymex contract was up 15.3 cents to $6.654/MMBtu as of around 8:50 a.m. ET, adding to a 28.1-cent rally from the previous session. August was up 14.1 cents to $6.687.

NGI Morning Natural Gas Price & Markets Coverage

The latest runs of the American and European weather models were showing notably hotter trends day/day, advertising a “rather bullish pattern” for the first 12 days of July, according to NatGasWeather.

“National demand will increase late in the week through next week” as a “hot upper ridge strengthens and retakes ground over the interior U.S. with highs of 90s gaining coverage, including up the East Coast,” NatGasWeather said.

The upcoming pattern...