Natural gas futures tumbled more than 20 cents lower in post-Christmas trading as weather data “failed miserably” over the weekend, shedding a hefty amount of demand from the 15-day outlook. 

Markets

With any opportunity for truly cold weather not expected before the middle of next month, the January Nymex gas futures contract settled Monday at $2.305/MMBtu, down 21.3 cents from last Thursday’s close. February plunged 18.6 cents to $2.326.

Spot gas prices also tumbled, with widespread losses of 30.0 cents or more seen across the United States. NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 24.5 cents to $2.535.

With the European weather data erasing more than 25 heating degree days from the long-range outlook, and the American model also backing off the projected demand in the early part...