1001 ET - Natural gas futures start the day higher with help from hotter near-term weather forecasts, while gains remain limited by comfortable storage levels. "The next 15 days are back to being solidly bullish as daily national CDDs [cooling degree days] are hotter/above normal each day," NatGasWeather.com says in a note. The market had shrugged off yesterday's small weekly storage injection as inventories remain well above average. "Next week's EIA report is also expected to print another smaller-than-normal build due to hot temperatures this past week and aided by lighter wind energy generation," NatGasWeather.com says. Nymex natural gas is up 1.6% at $2.777/mmBtu.