KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — This week marks the beginning of the 2015 winter holiday season. As families bake their pies, baste their turkeys and prepare for Thanksgiving guests, many will hit the streets next week to make the drive “back home.” For many, the past few years have been filled with moments of shock and depression at the figures displayed on the gas pump. However, for holiday travelers this year, the trip to fill up may be significantly more jolly.

On Friday, Nov. 20, the live-ticking gas average in Indiana was $1.857 per gallon and $1.889 per gallon in Kosciusko. Within the county, gas prices vary from $1.80 up to around $1.90 per gallon with Warsaw seeing some of the best prices in the area. Surrounding counties saw higher prices with Marshall County prices set at approximately $1.93; Fulton at $1.99; Miami set at $2.06; Wabash at $2.06 and Elkhart at $1.957. Areas that saw better gas prices included the Indianapolis area and locally, Huntington County, which reported a $1.85 average.

This week the prices of gas have continued to drop. Today’s gas price average in Warsaw is $1.69 and experts project prices will remain low for the foreseeable future. GasBuddy projects that by Thanksgiving Day, the national average will be $1.99 per gallon, nearly 80 cents per gallon cheaper than last year and $1.29 cheaper than 2013.

(Provided by GasBuddy)

“As prices at the pump have plunged, the number of states seeing average prices under $2 per gallon has more than tripled in the last two weeks, rising to 19 states, with nearly 60 percent of all U.S. gas stations now selling below $2 per gallon,” reports GasBuddy.

The website notes lower gas prices are believed to be a major contributing facto in holiday travel.

“According to GasBuddy’s 2015 Thanksgiving Travel Survey (with more than 100,000 surveyed nationwide), 25 percent of travelers say their travel will begin on Thanksgiving Day; while nearly 30 percent say travel begins the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and another 23 percent say they’ll hit the road 2-3 days ahead. That’s an 11 percent decrease in the number of people who say they’re heading out on Thanksgiving Day. In 2014, 36 percent said they’d travel on Thanksgiving Day; 30 percent said they’d travel the day before; and only 18 percent said they’d hit the road 2-3 days earlier,” reports the website.