PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Even as the temperature climbed Thursday, Philadelphia’s streets commissioner went before city council looking for extra cash to buy tons and tons of road salt in case winter once again rears its ugly head.

Streets commissioner Clarena Tolson asked council to approve spending an extra $1.9 million for road salt. She says the current supply — about 12-thousand tons — is enough only to cover one more major storm, and that’s cutting it too close for her comfort:

“In the event of having a couple more big storms, or (even) nuisance storms, we will use extreme amounts of salt. So we want to have salt on hand, so that we can cover the streets as necessary.”

The extra cash would pay for 28,000 tons, enough for about three or four big storms. Council’s appropriations committee gave an initial okay to the purchase. Any unused salt, Tolson says, would simply be stored for next winter.

Reported by Mike Dunn, KYW Newsradio