*Storm system brings late cold weather to East
*Warmer than normal across Midwest, north plains
HOUSTON, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. coal use rose 7 percent last week from the week before, Genscape said Friday, as unseasonably cool weather hit the Northeast.
Compared with the same week last year, U.S. coal consumption, which mostly goes to fuel power generation, was down 1 percent for the week ended Thursday, the data provider said.
The weather system that brought deadly tornados to the South brought cold weather including mountain snows to the Northeast, WSI Corp weather service said.
Elsewhere in the East, however, mild weather offset Northeastern cold, leaving coal demand unchanged from the previous week and down 6 percent from the same week last year.
In the West, less populous than the East, cool weather sent coal use up 4 percent for the week and up 9 percent from the same week last year.
Coal consumption shifts seasonally, and varies from week to week and region to region, depending on electricity demand to power heaters and air-conditioners.
For reports on U.S.energy weather day by day, see [WSC/OUS] and [WSC/STORM].
Genscape's regional indexes are calculated separately from the national index and do not always add up to the separately calculated U.S. total, Genscape has said. Region April 29 Last wk Yr ago Pct wk Pct yr Nation 17.03 15.95 17.26 +7 -1 East 14.32 14.38 15.16 0 -6 West 2.07 1.98 1.89 +4 +9 (Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by John Picinich)
