Gasoline prices dipped below $2 per gallon in St Joseph Monday. We spotted $1.99 on marquees all over town Tuesday morning. The price here is going down just as the national average started to rise, reversing three weeks of daily price declines. The average across Missouri is $2.03/gallon.

The national average price of gas has increased for two days in a row to $2.19 per gallon, which ended a 22-day streak of declining prices.

Despite the end to the slide, the national average has fallen for 24 of the past 30 days. It continues to sit at its lowest price for this date since 2004.

AAA says pump prices are down fractions of a penny week-over-week and have declined by 10 cents month-over-month. Motorists are also benefitting from significant yearly savings, with today’s price 80 cents per gallon less than a year ago.

Consumers in South Carolina ($1.87) and Alabama ($1.90) are paying the nation’s lowest averages at the pump, and a total of nine states are posting averages below $2 per gallon. For the fifth consecutive week, drivers in every state are paying retail averages below $3 per gallon with states west of the Rockies leading the market: Hawaii ($2.88), California ($2.83), Nevada ($2.71), Alaska ($2.46) and Washington ($2.43).