NEW YORK: US natural gas futures climbed more 1% to a three-week high on Tuesday, helped by forecasts for hotter weather and higher gas demand for next week than previously projected.

Front-month gas futures for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 3.4 cents, or about 1.6%, to $2.22 per million British thermal units, at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT). “The weather plays a big role in natural gas, short-term and long-term. And the weather has been a little on the warm side in most parts of the country,” said Thomas Saal, senior vice president for energy at StoneX Financial.

Financial firm LSEG estimated 233 cooling degree days (CDDs) over the next two weeks, slightly higher from 228 CDDs estimated on Monday. The normal for this time of year is 187 CDDs.

With hotter than usual weather on the horizon, LSEG forecast average gas demand in the Lower 48 states, including exports, to rise from 105.7 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) this week to 108.3 bcfd next week.