Stratosphere

So far, it looks like another mild winter is underway, but that is likely to change in a couple of weeks. A sudden warming of the stratosphere — six to 30 miles above the ground — in the North Pole is going to push cold air southward, according to AccuWeather.com.

Natural gas cash and futures markets entered the stratosphere last week as cold weather, soaring demand and substandard storage levels led to new all-time high prices and prompted the U.S. Senate to schedule hearings on the situation.