The market was showing more weakness Friday than it had all week, but rising points still outnumbered falling ones by approximately two to one. A potent winter storm was leaving the western end of the South behind and targeting the entire East Coast for the weekend, which supported Gulf Coast and Northeast gains. But warming trends caused most points in the Midcontinent and West to drop.

The Midwest had a divided outlook. The Plains side of the region would see temperatures rising during the weekend from near-zero lows, but frigid conditions were due to continue in the eastern half of the Midwest. The Weather Channel (TWC) said Cleveland could see its biggest snowfall of the winter during the weekend.

The Northeast had by far the largest upticks in overall gains that ranged from 2-3 cents to a little more than 80 cents. Otherwise, prices were flat to a little more than a quarter lower. The weekend decline of industrial load helped account for the weakness in part of the market.

Southern lows were due to drop into the 20s and 30s Saturday, while the Northeast could expect temperatures to bottom out in the teens and 20s. But the Midcontinent and the sections of the West that weren’t already fairly mild had rising mercury levels in their forecasts. The high in Oklahoma City was expected to jump from the high 30s Friday to the mid 50s Saturday, and the Denver forecast indicated a peak temperature jump from the mid 40s Friday to the high 50s Saturday.

Dominion, Columbia Gas, Texas Eastern and Algonquin planned to initiate cold weather-related OFOs or other constraints during the weekend (see Transportation Notes).

It didn’t issue one Friday, but Florida Gas Transmission warned shippers that linepack was low and near-freezing weather was forecasted for its northern Florida market area during the weekend, so they should be alert for a potential Overage Alert Day. Florida Gas Zones 2 and 3 and the Florida citygate recorded advances of 10-15 cents or so.

Monday’s cash market will have scant prior-trading-day support from April futures that closed the day up 2.7 cents. The contract did fulfill — just barely — a producer’s Wednesday prediction that the screen would see a $10 print before the weekend arrived (see Daily GPI, March 6). April hit a $10 regular session high.

For a Canadian producer, Friday was a quiet trading day. Prices were moving higher as trading proceeded, he said, which seemed to help support April gas futures because they didn’t start dropping until cash had finished trading. He supposes that the gas contract was dragged lower at least partially by crude oil weakness.

The producer, who trades the Chicago citygate, said the eastern Midwest should start to warm up around Monday, get to seasonal temperatures at midweek, and then see colder weather return next weekend. Temperatures have been relatively warm in the 40s around Calgary recently, he said.

A Midwestern utility buyer said his area was enduring a one-day severe cold snap Friday in which the low was around zero, but it would be warming up as soon as Saturday. Noting that the forecast for Chicago called for lows to remain around 10 degrees Saturday, he said recent weather patterns appear to have been dividing the Midwest down the middle. In the western section where his company is, the cold weather has been much harsher recently than to the east, he said, but it will start seeing more moderate conditions sooner than the eastern half of the Midwest.

The buyer said the 10-day forecast indicated higher highs and higher lows, and although it decreases the utility’s throughput, he will welcome milder weather than what his city has been experiencing recently.

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