Since then-Hurricane Isaac hit land Tuesday afternoon, there has been an average 4 cent increase in gas prices across the nation, a bump felt at the pump in Northern Virginia as well, according to AAA (www.aaa.com). Since Wednesday evening, Isaac was bumped back to a tropical storm but is still expected to cause heavy rains and winds as it moves inland this week.

“I think the change in gas prices is short-lived,” said John Townsend, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Once the weather changes, hopefully we’ll see prices similar to what they were before the storm.”

In the Washington, D.C. area, the average gas price for regular gasoline jumped from $3.93 to $3.99 since Tuesday night, according to AAA. In the D.C. metro area gas prices increased from an average $3.74 to $3.79 between Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

Maryland experienced a 6-cent decrease with its average at $3.77 late Wednesday evening. The state of Virginia’s average gas price jumped from $3.62 to $3.66 — a 4-cent increase over night, according to AAA.

CNN (http://earlystart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/27/isaac-could-wreak-havoc-on-gas-oil-christine-romans-on-how-production-and-prices-could-be-affected/?iref=allsearch) recently reported that one-fourth of oil production was halted in the Gulf of Mexico because of Isaac’s approach, which may also affect gas prices in the next few weeks.