Around this time a year ago, a headline in The Charleston Gazette read: "Plummet at the pump; expect gas prices to keep dropping."
The "plummet" referred to gas prices dropping below $3 a gallon in the Kanawha Valley.
A year later, average gas prices nationwide are expected to dip below $2 a gallon this week, just in time for the busiest travel time of the year.
At the Pilot station in Nitro, gas was $1.93 a gallon on Monday. Several stations in Putnam County also had gas below $2 a gallon.
It's not there everywhere just yet. Gas was $2.09 at the One Stop on Charleston's West Side on Monday afternoon. At the East End One Stop, it was $2.16.
But by Thanksgiving Day, the average price nationally should hit $1.99, according to projections from GasBuddy, a website that tracks gas prices.
Almost 60 percent of gas stations in the U.S. already have sub-$2 gas, according to GasBuddy, and the average price in 19 states is less than $2.
It marks the cheapest prices in more than six years, since March 2009.
Patrick DeHaan, an analyst with GasBuddy, said he expected prices to continue to drop in the near term.
"Some folks automatically expect gas prices to rise in advance of a major travel holiday, that's become a popular misconception and this holiday exemplifies the point," DeHaan said. "It's a trend we expect will continue through the end of 2015, so if you like the prices you see on Thanksgiving, you'll be delighted when Christmas arrives."
With an average price of $2.09, West Virginia is right around the middle of the pack in terms of prices by state. At 28th cheapest, gas here is more expensive than in neighboring Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia, but cheaper than Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Mike Graney, director of the One Stop chain of gas stations and convenience stores, said that the low prices have helped business a little, but, in a state with the nation's highest rate of unemployment, it's difficult to disentangle the effect from the otherwise dismal West Virginia economy.
"It has improved people's ability to purchase, because they have a little more pocket change," Graney said. "But that's offset by what's happening with our economy."
He said that Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are typically among the busiest days of the year.
A near record number of people are getting ready to take advantage of that cheap gas this week.
AAA is forecasting that 46.9 million people will travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving, a 0.6 percent increase over last year and the most since 2007, the year before the global financial crisis hit in earnest.
Of those travelers, the vast majority - 42 million - will be traveling by car. AAA estimates that with gas prices so low, American consumers are collectively saving $265 million every day, compared to one year ago.
Reach David Gutman at david.gutman@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5119 or follow @davidlgutmanon Twitter.