U.S. retail gasoline demand fell 12.5 percent last week after a winter storm forced drivers off the roads, MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report showed Tuesday.

A major storm pummeled the Northeastern United States and stranded many travelers, curbing gasoline consumption especially in the Central Atlantic region, where demand fell 14.5 percent, MasterCard said. Average gasoline demand fell by 1.2 million barrels per day, to 8.4 million bpd, in the week to Dec. 31.

Demand was off 0.4 percent from a year earlier.

In the latest four weeks, U.S. gasoline consumption was 0.5 percent lower year-over-year.

Average retail gasoline prices went up 6 cents, to $3.06 a gallon, 16.8 percent higher than a year ago and the highest level seen since October 2008, according to MasterCard.

Last week’s precipitous fall  came on the heels of a sharp increase in the week to Dec 24., MasterCard added.

MasterCard Advisors estimates retail gasoline demand based on aggregate sales activity in the MasterCard payments system coupled with estimates for all other payment forms including cash and checks. MasterCard Advisors is a unit of MasterCard Inc.