Sure, everybody talks about the weather. But how many days do we have history-making temperatures that will someday be worth telling your grandchildren about?

Well, yesterday for one. And, in all likelihood, today for another.

According to the National Weather Service, the high temperature for Pittsburgh yesterday reached 66, shattering the old record of 63 set on Jan. 7, 1930, by an almost-balmy three degrees of separation.

"And we'll probably break the record again," said Roger Stairs, a meteorologist with the weather service, which is forecasting highs in the mid- to upper 60s today.

The record for Jan. 8 -- set in 1937 -- is 66.

Forecasters agree that the respite from winter is likely to continue for another day or two.

"There is a very strong ridge of high pressure over the eastern United States right now, bringing a steady flow of warm, southerly air up from the Gulf states," said meteorologist Lee Hendricks, also with the National Weather Service.

The forecast calls for today to be mostly cloudy, with a 30 percent chance of showers.

The closest cold front isn't expected to blast into our region until later this week, when temperatures will fall to the more-wintry 40s and 30s. Saturday's low, according to Mr. Stairs, will be in the mid-20s and Sunday will dip into the low 20s.

While everyone this side of Seven Springs Mountain Resort is enjoying the mild weather, the ups and downs of the highs and lows mean only one thing to Western Pennsylvania motorists.

Potholes.

The combination of freeze-thaw temperatures and above-average rainfall thus far could not create a better recipe for unraveling asphalt on main highways that have not been paved for some time, and a whole bunch of secondary roads.

Look at developing cracks, especially at joints and along pavement edges, and you get the feeling this will be a banner year for potholes.

But just as the weather is ripe for a bumper crop of potholes, it's also prime time for patching them.

"We do take advantage of this kind of weather to fix potholes," said PennDOT spokesman Jim Struzzi. "When we have warm days like this, and our guys aren't having to do any kind of snow removal or spreading salt, we have them patching."

The winter patchwork is different from summer patchwork, when crews use big steaming vats of hot asphalt to put down more permanent fixes.

"During winter, we use cold asphalt," Mr. Struzzi said. "They shovel it in the hole and pack it down. You put that in as a temporary fix, and then you come back in the summer and either do a permanent fix or we resurface the whole roadway, depending on the condition.

"It's a temporary fix, just to get us through the winter."

Guy Costa, director of public works for the city, said he'd much rather have his crews hitting the highways in street-sweepers than salt- and shovel-trucks.

"This is wonderful," he said of the weather. "We're concentrating on potholes. We're also doing street sweeping and litter control."

Those steps could be beneficial in the spring, when thaws often lead to flooding because storm sewers are clogged with debris. "Plus, our workers don't mind being out in these temperatures," he said.

Mr. Costa said that new chemicals in the "cold patch" mix mean the temporary fixes in the pothole-marked roads are holding up a little better.

The mild days mean other things.

• Less wear and tear on equipment.

• Less fuel consumed by trucks and loaders.

• Jump-starting spring maintenance.

• Less road salt.

"Actually, believe it or not," Mr. Costa said, "we're already about 25 percent into our salt this winter. We've had 10 inches of snow, and we average 40 to 42 inches. So it's great to have a mild stretch like this."

Of course, there are downsides to this kind of weather that are more dangerous than potholes. A couple of landslides and broken water lines have been reported in the region over the past couple of days.

Saxonburg residents were asked to conserve water after a water main break yesterday left more than 1,000 homes and businesses with low pressure.

Breakages occurred both at the water treatment plant and farther along the water line, said Linda Kovacik, administrative assistant for the Saxonburg Area Authority. Crews were working to fix the breaks.

No customers have gone without water and it is safe to drink without boiling or filtering, she said. The conservation order is in effect until tomorrow, but Ms. Kovacik said it would take three days after the break is fixed for water pressure to return to normal.

Two families were evacuated as a precaution after earthen fill for the Mon-Fayette Expressway slid and threatened their homes in Washington County.

While road crews work on all the highway trouble spots, PennDOT officials stressed that they can fix potholes only if they know about them.

"Especially with the weather that we're having, those potholes can form overnight," Mr. Struzzi said. "And we don't always know about them until someone does hit one. We encourage people to call us and tell us where they're at."

The telephone number for reporting potholes directly to PennDOT is 1-800-FIXROAD (349-7623). It is best called from a local land line, because calls dialed on cell phones might be routed to a central switchboard away from Pittsburgh.

"If you hit a pothole, don't keep hitting it," Mr. Struzzi said. "Call us."