Natural gas futures were higher on Monday after the weekend models showed hot weather returning to the Lower 48 following the Labor Day holiday. After soaring to a $2.695 intraday high, the September Nymex gas futures contract settled at $2.579/MMBtu, up 3.9 cents from Friday’s settlement. October futures edged up only eight-tenths of a cent to $2.665.

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Spot gas prices were higher across the board Monday, led by multi-dollar gains in Southern California. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. jumped 32.5 cents to $2.570.

Coming off a weekend in which Houston tied its record for hottest temperature ever recorded (the mercury reached 109), the latest long-range models said more heat was on the way. NatGasWeather said both the Global Forecast System and European data sets showed cooler...