Cold air and heavy snow in the Pacific Northwest provided the first dose of what may lie ahead this winter season, fueling large price gains for November baseload natural gas, according to NGI’s Bidweek Alert.

Though confined to the U.S. West Coast, a multi-day stretch of well below-average temperatures over parts of the Northern Rockies to the Northern High Plains delivered a dose of adrenaline to the natural gas market that has become confident in the level of supply ahead of the peak winter season.

In the Rockies, Northwest Sumas traded between $6.350/MMBtu and $6.500 on the first day of trading for November bidweek, up from an average $3.180 for October bidweek. Opal was trading between $5.100 and $5.500, up from an average $2.595 last month.

The price gains extended...