As forecasts over the weekend locked in on a frigid Lower 48 weather pattern developing by the end of the week, and with models teasing the possibility of more cold arriving to close out 2022, natural gas futures rallied sharply in early trading Monday.

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The January Nymex contract was up 62.7 cents to $6.872/MMBtu at around 8:50 a.m. ET. February was up 56.7 cents to $6.649.

The American weather model underwent a sizable cold shift over the weekend, bringing it into better agreement with the colder European model’s outlook, according to NatGasWeather.

Both models advertised a “solidly bullish” temperature outlook starting Saturday and extending into the Christmas holiday, the firm said.

“The weekend weather data held a series of frigid cold shots advancing out of...