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First you feel the jarring bump, then the sickening pop of a tire or crunch of metal.

You're a victim of an annual New England tradition: pothole season.

Depending on where you live in the Attleboro area, that's a motoring hazard you're more likely to encounter than in past years. Rain and this winter's irregular weather has worked its destructive magic on pavement.

Local auto repair specialists and highway departments in some communities say they're feeling the pressure.

"We must have replaced 200 broken ball joints here since January," said Steve Lima of Lima's Auto Repair in Attleboro, who links the damage to cars to running over potholes. "The plows opened up some big holes." Mike Meir, owner of Mike's Towing, which provides towing service in the Attleboro-Taunton area, said his trucks have been called out to assist a bumper crop of drivers whose cars were disabled by encounters with potholes.

"The past couple of weeks have been real bad because of all the rain," said Mier, who has seen everything from flattened tires to bent rims and broken frontend components.

Public works departments in Foxboro and Mansfield say they're rushing to keep up with the number of potholes this year.

"This is the worst I've seen in a long time," said Foxboro Highway Superintendent Robert Swanson, who has been keeping a crew busy during a full shift in recent days chasing and repairing potholes.

Some of the worst Foxboro streets have been Mill, East Belcher, County, Payson and Cross. Swanson blames winter weather that has combined rapid changes in temperature with heavy rains that seep under asphalt.

"We've been getting a lot of rain at times when the ground is frozen," said Swanson, who explained that the water then re-freezes, cracking and undermining pavement.

Mansfield has also had to deal with an "above average" number of potholes this year, said highway department operations manager Mark Cook.

Cratered roads are not universal, however.

Around the Bay State, it's been an average season for potholes, said Rusty Savignac, president of the New England Service Station and Repair Association.

"Potholes are an annual occurrence, but this year hasn't been anything unusual," he said. Attleboro's pothole situation hasn't been exceptionally bad, according to the number of claims for damages filed by aggrieved motorists at city hall.

"We haven't been inundated with claims this year," said Vicki Nason of the mayor's office, who tracks such complaints.

Although many people file requests for compensation, municipalities in most cases aren't responsible.

That doesn't ease the pressure on highway crews to fix the craters, however.

"We always get right after them," said Foxboro's Swanson. "There's nothing more aggravating to most people than a pothole."