NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Natural gas futures climbed Friday, supported by revised weather forecasts pointing to colder-than-normal temperatures in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast starting next week. Natural gas for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading 15.6 cents higher, or 2.78%, at $5.771 a million British thermal units after opening floor trade 13.1 cents higher at $5.746/MMtbu. Gas traders were eyeing weather forecasts pointing to brisk temperatures in the major gas-consuming regions beginning the last week of January. The cold weather was expected to spark significant demand for natural gas for heating. MDA EarthSat, a Rockville, Md. private forecaster, was predicting below-normal temperatures in the U.S. Northeast, Midwest and Great Lakes region from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31. MDA was expecting colder-than-normal temperatures in the Midwest from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5. "The forecast has trended colder again today through the eastern half of the nation" from Jan. 27 to Jan. 31, MDA EarthSat meteorologists wrote in a note to clients Friday. Frigid temperatures over the past few weeks have put a substantial dent in gas inventories, eliminating a surplus over the five-year average level for this time of year. Total gas in U.S. storage as of Jan. 15 was 2.607 trillion cubic feet, just below the five-year average and just above last year's stock. "There's been a shift in the temperature forecast," said Jim Ritterbusch, the president of Ritterbusch & Associates, a Galena, Ill. energy advisory firm. "Over the past month, we've completely erased the huge supply surplus, and that's significant to the market psychologically."

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