Gas prices have tumbled in recent weeks to the lowest level in nearly two years. The price drop comes just in time for the busiest holiday travel season since 2006, but may be short lived.

On Wednesday afternoon, the average price of a regular gallon of gasoline in the Dayton area was $2.98. The national average was $3.23 per gallon, the lowest the national average has been this year.

Low prices of $2.85, $2.92, and $2.93 per gallon were observed Wednesday in Dayton, Springfield and Hamilton respectively, according to the gas industry website GasBuddy.com. Some of the lowest prices observed were in and around Middletown where multiple stations were selling regular gasoline for $2.75 per gallon.

The last time the average price of a gallon of gasoline was under $3 in the area was February 2011.

An estimated 3.5 million Ohioans are expected to travel between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1, according to AAA. Nationwide, more than 90 percent of all holiday travelers are expected to travel by car, the organization said.

The sudden dip — the Dayton average dropped 25 cents in one week — is typical of the days leading up to Christmas, according to Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

He said lower demand as the weather gets colder means that prices bottom out right around Christmas, but rise 10 to 15 cents again by mid-January.

“This could be as good as it gets,” DeHaan said. Wholesale prices had already begun to go back up Wednesday. “It’s possible that we could see an increase in the next 48 hours.”

And despite the dip, 2012 will still go down in history as a year of high gas prices.

“Even with the seasonal price decline, 2012 is going to yield the highest average price ever paid – January through December — at $3.63 per gallon,” DeHaan said.

AAA predicts that the national average price of gas will slowly drop through the end of the year and average between $3.20 and $3.40 per gallon by New Year’s Day.