May 2 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures stuck to a tight range to close higher on Tuesday, supported by concerns that weather could affect planting of the natural fiber crop in the United States this week.

"Cold weather in West Texas, flooding and cold in the Mid-South, and largely drought conditions in the Southeast have made for less than smooth plantings," Ron Lee, general manager at McCleskey Cotton in Bronwood, Georgia, said in a note.

A powerful storm system bore down on the eastern United States on Monday.

"The market may be showing concerns about pre percentage points off the average planting pace knowing that we are not going to get a lot planted in the mid-south this week if any," said Louis Rose, co-founder and director of research and analytics at Rose Commodity Group.

About 14 percent of plantings have been completed in 15 major cotton-producing states across the United States in the week to April 30, up from 11 percent the previous week, the U.S. Agriculture Department said in a weekly report released after market close on Monday.

"Cotton edged sideways to higher ending with small gains on very light trading volume of 15,245 contracts," said INTL FCStone analyst Andy Ryan in a note. "The market is in the middle of its recent range with momentum still very slightly favoring the upside. Key support is down around 77.65, while residence is at last week's high of 79.74."

* The July cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S. settled up 0.42 cent, or 0.53 percent, at 79.37 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 78.38 and 79.43 cents a lb.
* Total futures market volume rose by 2,795 to 17,585 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 2,497 to 257,178 contracts in the previous session.
* The weekly U.S. export sales data will be released on Thursday.

(Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)