Over the last few weeks, we’ve been talking about some of the problems related to winter weather. Of course there are many benefits, as well, but we are going to talk about one more problem that affects us toward the end of winter when things start to warm up a little. Potholes. It’s never a pleasurable experience when the roads finally clear off and you’re driving along with no worries of hitting a patch of ice, things are starting to thaw out, the sun seems to be warming things up nicely and BAM, your car drops off into a big hole in the street. Why do these things happen?! The extreme temperature differences of summer and winter put a lot of stress on our streets and highways. Not only that, moisture seeps in underneath the asphalt and when the temperature gets cold enough, that moisture turn into ice. When water changes over to ice, it expands and pushes dirt around to make room. Then our temperature warms up and the ice melts away leaving a blank space under the asphalt where the ground used to be. If this happens numerous times, pretty soon the hole gets big enough for the asphalt to drop down, creating the pesky pothole. Potholes not only give us a brief jarring second if we hit them, they can also knock our cars out of alignment and sometimes cause damage. So be careful out there when it starts to warm up!
Weather Last Week
January 6: -7/29/0”
January 7: -10/20/Trace
January 8: -9/34/0.3” Snow
January 9: 7/33/0”
January 10: 4/35/0.4” Snow
January 11: 30/38/0.13” Rain
January 12: 16/31/Trace
Forecast discussion for the week ahead:
We’re about to have the rug pulled out from underneath us. After highs in the 40s and maybe even the 50s for the 2nd half of the week, a cold front pushes through Friday giving us a chance for snow. After that, the thermometer will come crashing down for the weekend. Highs will struggle to get into the double digits Saturday and Sunday with overnight lows likely below zero.