Natural gas futures advanced in early trading Monday as forecasts over the weekend increased heat expectations for the eastern Lower 48 to close out the month of August. The September Nymex contract was up 6.4 cents to $3.915/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET.

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Based on hotter forecast trends over the weekend, the latest Bespoke Weather Services projections showed a “notable bump up” in gas-weighted degree days (GWDD). The change was focused on hotter trends in the eastern half of the country over the next seven to 10 days, according to the firm.

“Heat drops off closer to normal levels as we move into early September, though the La Nina state suggests the bias of the pattern remains toward the hotter side more often than not as we move forward,” Bespoke said.

The weather...