Orange County Gas Prices Climb

Spending hard-earned cash on necessities is never that enjoyable, but it can be downright aggravating when the price of gasoline gets on an upward slope.

That's what drivers in Orange County have witnessed in the last three weeks, since before Christmas.

Beginning Dec. 23, the average cost of gasoline has risen, slowly but steadily, for 21 straight days.

Now, on average, gas in Orange County costs $3.72.

According to AAA, that's $0.16 more than one month ago and $0.38 more than a year ago.

Still, there is some good news.

Patch has a new page that tracks the cheapest gas in town for you. (It also shows major traffic accidents.)

Today, the least expensive (regular) gas in Lake Forest can be found at the gas station at the corner of El Toro and Trabuco roads, for $3.70 a gallon.

That might seem high, but at least it's no longer 2008. On June 21 of that year, the average price for a gallon of Orange County gasoline hit a whopping $4.65, according to AAA records.

--City News Service contributed reporting.