ST. LOUIS — Gas prices continue to soar and drivers are feeling the impact on their wallets.
St. Louis drivers are paying 18.6 cents more per gallon than last week, according to a GasBuddy report. Gas prices in the Metro are averaging $4.53 per gallon, which is 57.1 cents higher than a month ago.
Editor's note: the video above is from May 18.
The lowest price in the city is officially above $4 a gallon, according to the report. The lowest price surveyed in St. Louis was $4.16 per gallon, while the highest was $4.99.
Missouri as a whole saw a 10-cent increase in prices in one week, averaging at $4.19 and Illinois is up 15.3 cents at $4.98 on average, according to the report.
Nationally, the numbers aren't much better. In the last week, the national average for diesel has shot up 22.6 cents per gallon to $5.51 and the national average for gasoline has increased 11 cents to $4.57, the report said.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy said in the release that gas prices have reached record highs in the last week, but are starting to "slow their rise."
"With more Americans planning to hit the road for Memorial Day this year compared to last, prices will be over $1.50 per gallon higher than last year," De Haan said. "Though, prices are appearing to slow down, for now."
"While the coast isn't clear yet, and prices will be at their highest Memorial Day level ever, I'm hopeful that we could avoid a dreaded national average of $5 per gallon this year. Whether or not we're able to depends on Americans cutting demand in the face of sky high prices," he said.