Potholes are making an early appearance in Maine with this winter’s warm temperatures and heavy rain. The conditions have allowed water to seep through small road cracks to underlying gravel, where it creates a void. When the unsupported asphalt gets pounded by cars and trucks driving over it, large cracks and potholes appear. The heavy rainfall of the past few weeks also has created other challenges. With no place to go, the rainwater has flooded onto roadways and then frozen as the temperature dropped, resulting in sheets of ice that are hard to remove.