Winter Storm Fern that swept across the eastern half of North America this past weekend (including most of central and eastern Canada), combined with a brief but intense cold outbreak in Western Canada to establish a new single day Canadian gas demand record on January 24, 2026. Based on data from RBN’s Canadian NatGas Billboard, natural gas demand rose to 19.3 Bcf (blue text and arrow in chart below), surpassing the previous record set less than a year ago on February 18, 2025 of 19.1 Bcf (burgundy text and arrow). The nation’s population-weighted heating degree days (HDDs, a measure of how cold was the weather) for January 24 was the fifth highest since 1900 and the coldest for this date since 1936.
Featured Articles
- Analyst Insight
Cold Start to Heating Season Sends Ontario Gas Storage Below Five-Year Average
Central Canada is off to its coldest start to the heating season in 25 years with high gas demand pulling gas storage well the the five-year range.
- Blog
Ridin’ The Storm Out – Will the Storm Set to Slam the South Lead to a Winter Storm Uri Reprise?
The gas market was roiled this week by the severe winter weather set to sweep across the country. Today, we discuss the market’s jump in advance of Winter Storm Fern’s arrival and whether its effects will rival the tremendous dislocations caused by Uri.
- Analyst Insight
Alberta Gas Storage Records Rare January Net Injection
Alberta natural gas storage recorded an net injection on January 12, a rare event during January, and symptomatic of robust wellhead supplies and very moderate weather at present.
