* Front month remains well below last week's 2012 peak * Just under 1 million on East Coast lack power post-Sandy * Nuclear power plant outages remain high * Coming up: EIA oil data Wednesday, EIA gas data Thursday By Eileen Houlihan NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures edged lower early on Wednesday, with milder weather on tap in long-term outlooks and some pessimism over the prospects for U.S. economic growth after President Barack Obama's re-election. But bearing in mind some near-term cold weather in the Northeast and a large number of nuclear power plants still offline for maintenance, most traders expect limited downside. Just under 1 million customers in the Northeast remained without power as of late Tuesday, more than a week after Hurricane Sandy knocked down power lines across the region. Nuclear plants that shut because of floodwaters during the storm had returned to service, but a number remained out for autumn refueling, a factor that has supported gas prices as utilities replace lost nuclear generation with gas-fired units. Nuclear outages totaled about 27,800 megawatts, or 27 percent of U.S. capacity, up from 27,500 MW out on Tuesday, 18,200 MW out a year ago and a five-year outage rate of about 22,600 MW. As of 9:20 a.m. EST (1420 GMT), NYMEX front-month December natural gas futures were at $3.562 per million British thermal units, down 5.5 cents, or just over 1 percent. The contract rose to $3.82 early last week, the highest level for a front month since November 2011. Despite the near-term cold in the Northeast, the National Weather Service's six-to-10-day outlook issued on Tuesday called for above-normal temperatures for much of the eastern half of the nation stretching across Texas, and below-normal readings in much of the West. RECORD INVENTORIES Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration last week showed domestic natural gas inventories rose the previous week by 65 billion cubic feet to 3.908 trillion cubic feet, easily eclipsing the prior record high of 3.852 tcf hit last November. (Storage graphic: link.reuters.com/mup44s) Early injection estimates for this week's EIA storage report range from 16 bcf to 40 bcf, with most in the mid- to high-20s bcf. Last year stocks rose an adjusted 48 bcf that week, while the five-year average build for that week is 36 bcf. Current estimates by some traders and analysts show stocks peaking at about 3.95 tcf before winter withdrawals begin. RIG COUNT RISES AGAIN The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States rose by eight last week to 424, after posting a 13-year low the previous week, data from Baker Hughes showed. (Graphic: r.reuters.com/dyb62s) While the gas rig count has gained only 10 times this year, four of those increases have occurred in the last seven weeks, stirring concerns that the uptick in gas prices in the last month might be encouraging producers to hook up more wells. Still, the decline in gas-directed drilling over the last year - the count is down 55 percent since peaking at 936 in October 2011 - has also fed expectations that producers might soon curb record output. But production has not shown any significant signs of slowing, with the associated gas produced from more-profitable shale oil and shale gas liquids wells keeping dry gas flowing at or near a record pace.

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