That long, hot summer is finally starting to look like fall. And, sure enough, gas prices are starting to cool off, too.

The Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) says fuel prices dipped below $3 a gallon over the weekend. Sunday's average pump price for a gallon of regular-grade (87 octane) gas in the Los Angeles-Long Beach market was $2.99.

The cost of fueling up your ride has been slowly decreasing in recent days.

The AAA said in a statement last week that prices had dropped “3.7 cents less than last week, 21 cents less than last month, and 60 cents lower than last year.”

It could get even better. California is switching from more expensive summer blend to less expensive winter blend fuel, and you'll see that at the pump in a couple weeks.

“We’re experiencing relatively small gas price drops right now because of the still-volatile situation with Southern California supply,” said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring. “Once the winter blend of gasoline begins to be sold at gas pumps on Nov. 1, we could see further price declines because winter blend is cheaper to produce.”

Other analysts note that wholesale prices, enjoying a long slide, bounced back slightly in recent weeks. But Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, thinks the price bump is temporary. Whew.

“I believe the rebound is somewhat of a head fake as the oil market remains oversupplied,” he said. “It will be a temporary rebound, with oil and gasoline prices moving lower again in the months ahead, allowing for relief at the pump again.”

In fact, DeHaan is predicting the national average for regular gas will be below $2 a gallon by the December holidays.

Of course, Los Angeles still pays more than the rest of the nation. For example: The U.S. average for a gallon of regular gas over the weekend was $2.26, says the AAA.

On the other hand, it could be worse. The highest price for regular gas Southern Californians have ever seen was on Oct. 9, 2012, when it was $4.70.

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