Prices in the physical market catapulted higher Monday amid forecasts for widespread bitter cold by the weekend, then gave up ground the next two days amid benign near-term conditions, and then surged back ahead once again after freezing air advanced into the Midwest on Thursday to cap a holiday-abbreviated trading week.

Natural Gas Storage

NGI’s Weekly Spot Gas National Avg. for the Nov. 7-10 period ultimately climbed 45.0 cents to $4.205. The trading stretch was cut short by one day because of Veterans Day on Friday.

At the close of the week, top gainers included several hubs in the West and Mountain West, where a cold snap first emerged before pushing into the central United States. SoCal Citygate gained $1.455 to $8.495, while Northwest Sumas climbed $1.225 to $8.315 and Questar rose $1.420...