February natural gas futures rebounded from early weakness Monday to settle shy of $3.000/MMBtu as weather models firmed up expectations for more heating demand from this week’s two winter storms and colder weather into next week.

The February Nymex natural gas futures contract rose 8.7 cents day/day to settle at $2.980, after trading across a 31.8-cent range with a day high of $3.012.

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. fell 10.5 cents to $2.990. 

[Want to visualize Henry Hub, Houston Ship Channel and Chicago Citygate prices? Check out NGI’s daily natural gas price snapshot now.]

Production jumped near record levels above 106 Bcf/d on Saturday and Sunday, then slipped to around 105.6 Bcf/d on Monday, according to Wood Mackenzie estimates. 

After a mild start to winter,...