Commodity Weather Says U.S. East to Be Warmer or Near Normal

The eastern U.S. will probably be warmer or near normal for at least the next two weeks, Matt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC, said.

Rogers’ 6- to 10-day and 11- to 15-day outlooks show most of the U.S. experiencing near-normal temperatures and some areas, including Texas and the Mid-Atlantic states, with the potential for warmer-than-normal weather.

“The overall forecast is still generally a warm-dominated one as the above-normal temperature events outweigh the cooler interludes,” Rogers wrote today in a note to clients from Bethesda, Maryland.

Rogers also said that cooler weather may prevail in California from April 9 to April 13 and in the Pacific Northwest east to North Dakota from April 14 to April 18.

Natural gas traders monitor weather forecasts to determine whether temperatures may boost heating or cooling demand. Predictions of below-normal or above-normal temperatures may prompt traders to buy gas futures or cover short positions. Commodity traders watch precipitation forecasts for potential impact on planting and yields.

New York’s average temperature is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) in mid-April, according to MDA EarthSat Weather in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In St. Louis it is about 55, in Boston 46, in Philadelphia 51, in Atlanta 60 and in Dallas 63, according to MDA.

Yesterday, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center forecast the eastern U.S., except for upstate New York and New England, probably will be warmer than normal next week.

The center’s 6- to 10-day outlook called for above-average warming to stretch from New York City west to Montana and south to the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the center, based in Camp Springs, Maryland. Above-average rains may fall in the Pacific Northwest and along the Ohio Valley into the U.S. Northeast during the same period.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/commodity-weather-says-u-s-east-to-be-warmer-or-near-normal.html)