It’s usually the temperature that drops with the advent of fall, but so far this year, gas prices have been doing most of the declining.

A month ago St. Tammany was paying about $3.77 for unleaded gasoline, but today Northshore residents are finding it easier to fill up at the pump thanks to the 70 cent drop in fuel to the current New Orleans metro area average of $3.07 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. Some areas of the parish are seeing even cheaper prices with reports of fuel as low as $2.77 surfacing.

“We thought by now we would be paying near $5 a gallon,” Don Redman, spokesman for AAA New Orleans said. “Usually you find gas prices drop slowly in small increments but we’ve seen the price drop almost 65 cents in about a month’s time which is quite unbelievable.”

Race Trac gas station on southbound U. S. 190 near Holiday Blvd. shows a regular price of $3.079 on Thursday, Oct. 16 with diesel at $3.579. (Staff photo by Debbie Glover)

And it comes at a good time, Redman said.

“The prices are falling in response to a weak economy and a lessening of demand. It’s the silver lining of the dark economic cloud,” he said.

The volatile stock and housing markets have been wreaking havoc on many investors, leading to the fall of most stock prices, including a dramatic dip in crude oil that currently rests near $70 a barrel, the lowest price for oil in more than a year.

That dramatic decrease has corresponded at the pump leading to a national average close to $3.12 a gallon, compared to $3.84 a month ago.

Prices were near this level a year ago but that was short lived as crude oil surged well above $100 a barrel sending gas to record highs near $5 per gallon.

“The tipping point for most people was $4 a gallon,” Redman said. “That’s when we started seeing widespread changes in driving habits, vacation planning and the purchasing of more fuel efficient vehicles.”

Those days are behind us, Redman said, adding he expects the prices to continue to dip and eventually reach lower levels than last year.

“We’re still in hurricane season so the threat of a late month storm is still out there,” Redman said. “But if that doesn’t happen, I expect we could see numerous places in Louisiana selling gas at $2.50 a gallon through the Thanksgiving holidays.”

He also said gas is gas so don’t be haggled by one gas station’s higher prices but “better fuel” when another nearby station is sporting lower prices. Some gas stations may be locked into a long-term contract for a particular gasoline at a particular price while others may operate on a daily contract basis, Redman said. That causes one station to have higher prices.