Cool

Capping a tumultuous week of trading, the natural gas futures market rose Friday as a wave of weather-related short-covering boosted prices throughout the morning. Only modest softening was seen in light afternoon trading, leaving the November contract to close at $4.767, up 8.1 cents on the day.

Former Hurricane Isabel was leaving a messy legacy in the Mid-Atlantic; mostly moderate to cool forecasts dominated the rest of the weather picture; an extra-big storage injection report had its usual day-later impact on the cash market; and of course trading was for the weekend, when industrial load normally slacks off. Small wonder, then, that Thursday’s declines gained downhill momentum and racked up further losses ranging from about a dime to 35 cents Friday.

WSI Corp.’s seasonal outlook for August-October shows a continuation of the “basic summer pattern” of hot in the West and cool in the Southeast, with the warmest temperatures anticipated in the northern and central Rockies. In addition to the Southeast, below-normal temps are predicted for Pacific coastal cities, and in the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf states for the period, it said last week.

Classifying it as “once-in-30-years type coolness,” Weather 2000 said the eastern third of the United States has been devoid of summer heat and sun during the May-August 2003 period, with no real signs of change on the horizon. The New York City-based forecasting and consulting firm said East Coasters must travel west to America’s heartland to find any signs of summer 2003 warmth.

Classifying it as “once-in-30-years type coolness,” Weather 2000 said the eastern third of the United States has been devoid of summer heat and sun during the May-August 2003 period, with no real signs of change on the horizon. The New York City-based forecasting and consulting firm said East Coasters must travel west to America’s heartland to find any signs of summer 2003 warmth.

WSI Corp. in its seasonal outlook for August-October said it expects to see a continuation of the “basic summer pattern” of hot in the West and cool in the Southeast, with the warmest temperatures anticipated in the northern and central Rockies. In addition to the Southeast, below-normal temps are predicted for Pacific coastal cities, and in the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf states for the period, it said.

A cool period in the major cities along the East Coast, Southeast and major California coastal cities, and warmer-than-normal temperatures in the western two-thirds of the nation, with especially warm temperatures in the Plains states can be expected in the coming three months, according to WSI’s seasonal forecast released Tuesday.

Following an eight-day, 83-cent rally, the natural gas futures market appeared to cool its jets early Wednesday as traders liquidated long positions ahead of Thursday’s storage report and the Nymex holiday Friday. At 11:40 a.m., the May contract had tumbled all the way down to $5.495 from Tuesday’s close at $5.653, but that turned out to be the low for the day.

Coming off of a winter that was colder than normal in a number of regions, WSI Corp. said it expects that trend to continue from April-June in the central and southern Plains and the Southeast, while warmer-than-normal temperatures are expected from the Rockies westward, along with the northern Plains, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast.