Parts of California recorded their highest average gas prices ever on Friday following a massive atmospheric river storm that brought record-breaking rain to parts of the state days earlier, AAA reports.
Most of the all-time highs were recorded in Northern California, where refinery closures and production issues tied to the recent heavy rain led to pricier gasoline, according to the Auto Club’s Weekend Gas Watch.
The powerful storm began drenching the northern part of the state last Sunday, unleashing torrential rain and strong winds that wreaked havoc on the region and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
Sacramento and San Francisco were among the cities that saw record amounts of rain, either for the day, the month or — in the state capital’s case — in recorded history.
The storm cleared the area early this week. But in the days since, the following areas have hit record-high averages for a gallon of regular unleaded (87):
- Napa: $4.80
- Oakland: $4.71
- Sacramento: $4.63
- Salinas: $4.67
- San Francisco: $4.81
- San Jose: $4.71
- San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles: $4.78
- San Rafael: $4.81
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville: $4.65
- Santa Rosa: $4.81
- Vallejo-Fairfield: $4.63
- Yolo: $4.51
On average, however, the most expensive gas in the state can be found in Mono County, where the price is about $5.25 per gallon. Mono is the lone county in the Golden State where the average for a gallon of unleaded is above the $5 mark.
Overall, the average cost for self-serve 87 gasoline in California on Friday was $4.58, five cents higher than one week ago.
In the Southland, prices ticked slightly higher in the past seven days, but are still about 13 to 20 cents off their all-time high set in 2012, Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said in a news release.
“Oil prices remain at very high levels and that is driving up prices around the U.S. during a time we would normally see price decreases,” he added.
Here were the average prices for a gallon of 87 gas across Southern California as of Thursday morning.
