Weekly cash prices surged amid lofty temperatures and solid cooling demand across much of the Lower 48.

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NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for Aug. 23-27 period jumped 29.5 cents to $4.105/MMBtu.

Conditions were ripe for robust air conditioner use across most of the Lower 48 during the week, with highs in the 90s over much of the nation’s midsection and across the East. Sweltering triple-digit highs in the Southwest and the deserts of California propelled prices even more.

Las Vegas, Phoenix and Palm Springs, CA, all posted daytime temperatures well into the 100s throughout the week.

Bespoke Weather Services preliminarily estimated on Friday that the week would set a record for this time of year in terms of gas-weighted degree days. That is substantial given that the...