SOUTH BEND -- It's not exactly the most wonderful time of the year.

Cold weather, followed by warm.

Water seeps into cracks in the street. It freezes and thaws a few times over. That weakens the pavement and there's your pothole.

So, the pothole is formed -in part- by warm weather and that makes some drivers hot.

"It's horrible especially with families that have kids in the car, " said driver Debra Boelens, who lives near the damaged area of South Bend Avenue. "It's ridiculous."

Driver John Smith and his passenger Mike Harris said the potholes wreck cars and create road hazards.

"The axle on this (car) is messed up, all because of South Bend Avenue," said Smith.

"I'm so happy that they're filling it in because it's so hard to swerve," said Harris. "Because you've got oncoming traffic coming. It's so hard and you're putting yourself in a bind."

Smith added: "Down here is the main vein of the east side, man."

South Bend Avenue is also State Road 23. So, the State of Indiana sent its local crew in for the patch-up job.

They filled the holes with cold mix. It's not as durable as hot mix but hot mix is not available in the winter. The price for each mix is about the same, according to the Indiana Department of Transportation (IDOT). An IDOT spokesman says cost is not a factor in deciding whether to use cold mix or hot mix.

The cold mix is easier to store. IDOT says there is no major difference between the two mixes, as far as their effects on motorists. “(There’s) no real difference to the driver,” wrote IDOT spokesman Joshua Bingham, in an e-mail response to questions.

“Hot mix is the same asphalt that is used for the road. Cold mix is a little more pliable. But once they set up they pretty much look the same. A slight difference is cold mix has a little bit bigger gravel mixed in.

"When plants are running, we always use hot mix,” Bingham wrote, when asked about the mix used in the St. Joseph County area.

The crew that patched South Bend Avenue on Dec. 27 wasted no time getting to the scene. Bingham wrote: “For public safety we respond as quickly as possible. Our crews monitor the roads daily to know where potholes need to be addressed.”

So it’s the extreme temperature changes that cause these potholes. But there was good news on the horizon.

Michiana was expected to get no warmer than 40 degrees for the next several days.

Those steady temperatures will help these roads stay together longer.

Then people can go back to complaining about the cold.

You can learn how to report a pothole to the appropriate department by clicking on this link: http://www.wsbt.com/news/links

If you feel that you have a claim against the State of Indiana because your vehicle was damaged by a pothole on a state road, you may download a tort claim form at www.in.gov. Click on the “Notice of Tort Claim Form” in the brown Online Services box to the top right of the Web page under the picture of Governor Daniels.

The link contains all the forms and directions for submitting a tort claim form to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.