Low gas prices expected to save holiday travelers $1.7 billion

Roads may be congested with traffic today, but Thanksgiving travelers will get a break filling up at gas stations over the five-day holiday period.

The national average price at the pump will be $2.11 for a gallon of regular gas, the third lowest in more than a decade, according to GasBuddy’s forecast. Average prices have been lower for Thanksgiving only last year, at $2.05, and in 2008, at $1.81.

Even Californians are catching a break, with an average statewide price of $2.69 a gallon Tuesday, down a nickel from the same day last week and about the same compared with a year ago, GasBuddy said

In Santa Rosa, the average price Tuesday was $2.66, down 3 cents from last week and 2.6 cents below last year.

GasBuddy’s survey found 33 Santa Rosa gas stations selling regular gas below the average rate, the lowest at Costco at $2.19, and 14 stations priced above average, as high as $2.79.

Holiday travelers can count on congestion, as more than 5 million Californians are expected to drive more than 50 miles during the holiday period, which runs from today through Sunday, according to AAA Northern California.

That represents a 3.4 percent increase in road traffic over last year, and airports could be a bit jammed as well, with more than 626,000 folks flying to their destinations, an increase of 1.6 percent over last year, the agency said.

The other catch on the horizon is also in the sky, with a trio of storms bound for the Sierra Nevada that could make for hazardous travel in the holiday period, the National Weather Service said.

The first storm was expected to deliver up to 8 inches of snow in the mountains above Lake Tahoe and up to 5 inches at lake level by this morning, with sunny skies and mild conditions on turkey day.

A second storm is expected to move into the Sierra late Friday, and another is possible as a colder system arrives on Sunday, the weather service said.

There could be some confluence between the stormy weather and holiday travel, as the AAA said that San Francisco and Las Vegas were among the top five travel destinations in the nation. San Diego, Orlando and New York City round out the list.

Americans can list savings on gasoline as one thing to be thankful for on Thursday, GasBuddy said.

“This year will go down as the first in over a decade that no state - not even traditionally pricey Hawaii or California - has seen its average daily price breach $3 a gallon,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.

Over the holiday period, motorists nationwide will spend nearly $1.7 billion less at the pump than the five-year average, he said. The main factor in the low prices is oil production that continues to outpace rising demand, DeHaan said.

The consumer windfall is “almost guaranteed” to continue for another year, as crude oil prices are expected to remain between $40 and $60 a barrel for much of 2017, he said.