In its latest seasonal update for June to August, WSI Corp. is forecasting a relatively strong cooling demand in the Northeast and Southwest, which raises the possibility of electricity-driven price support at key regional gas hubs this summer. Although cooler temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast should free up power for export to neighboring regions, WSI said, “constrained areas with limited generating and import capacity, such as New York City, Long Island and southwest Connecticut, remain vulnerable to heat-driven price spikes.”

WSI, or Weather Services International, expects the summer to be warmer than normal for the Southwest (e.g., Phoenix, Albuquerque), California (San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento), the Rockies (Denver, Salt Lake City), the northern Plains and Great Lakes states (Minneapolis, Chicago), and the Northeast ( Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC). Cooler-than-normal temperatures are expected in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Portland), the southern Plains ( Kansas City, Dallas, Houston, Little Rock), and the Southeast (e.g., Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans).

Through this month, WSI expects above-normal temperatures to be the rule for most of the western half of the United States, with the exception of the Pacific Northwest. Warmer-than-normal temperatures are also expected in the Great Lakes states and the Northeast. Cooler-than-normal temperatures will be confined to the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Southeast.

July will see warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Southwest, Rockies, northern Plains and most of the Northeast. Temperatures will be below normal in the Pacific Northwest, southern Plains and parts of the Southeast, along with northern New England. Cooler temperatures will be the norm in August, with below-normal temperatures expected in the Northwest, northern Rockies, the Plains, and the Southeast. Warmer-than-normal temperatures will be confined to the Southwest, southern Rockies and the Northeast.

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) in April forecast above normal temperatures across the Pacific region, the Southwest, most of Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Southeast and Florida. The CPC said there was equal probability of above and below normal temperatures over the entire rest of the nation.

“The expectation of below-normal temperatures in the Pacific Northwest states and in the Southeast this summer is different from the CPC outlook, in which above-normal temperatures are predicted,” said Dr. Todd Crawford, WSI’s seasonal forecaster. WSI, a subsidiary of Landmark Communications, provides customized weather information to energy traders and issues its Seasonal Weather Advisories twice monthly.

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