The temperatures are warming up, and with that comes the risk of potholes! This is a common issue this time of year when you have the combination of a melting snowpack and a consistent freeze-thaw cycle!
It starts when snow and ice melt during the day. That water seeps into tiny cracks and pores in the pavement. Roads aren’t perfectly solid — they have small imperfections that allow water to get in.
When temperatures drop back below freezing, that trapped water freezes and expands. Water expands by about 9% when it turns to ice, pushing outward on the surrounding asphalt. This expansion widens existing cracks and weakens the road from the inside.
As temperatures rise again, the ice melts, leaving behind slightly larger gaps. Each freeze–thaw cycle repeats the process, gradually breaking the pavement apart. Add in the constant weight and vibration of traffic, and chunks of asphalt eventually loosen and break free — forming a pothole.
Melting snow accelerates the problem by providing a steady supply of water to feed those cracks. That’s why potholes often appear suddenly in late winter or early spring, even if roads looked fine just weeks earlier.
