Wasatch Front cities plowed through ice, snow drifts and huge chunks of their snow-removal budgets last month as they worked around the clock to clear a week's worth of early winter storms.

Among the cities hit hardest by the storms, Murray has nearly exhausted its $60,000 budget for 2008-09, the city's chief of staff, Jan Wells, said. Meanwhile, South Jordan spent nearly 40 percent of its roughly $100,000 budget plowing roads from Dec. 20 to Dec. 29, spokesman Chip Dawson said.

"We just kind of hope and pray it doesn't last the whole winter," he said.

In West Jordan, the sun was out to start the week, and so were the snowplows. Tim Peters, the city's public works director, hoped to finally see the blacktop on the city's streets. To do that, Peters remained skeptical about staying in the black financially.

West Jordan dedicated $178,170 this year to snow removal, a figure that is supposed to cover everything from snowplow blades to overtime hours. But since Dec. 20, West Jordan has spent more than $44,000 salting main streets and connectors, Peters said. The city does not usually salt roads in subdivisions.

Snowstorms have hit the valley's west side particularly hard so far this winter. Most recently, a Christmas Day storm left from 10 inches of snow in Herriman to 21 inches in parts of West Jordan, according to the National Weather Service.

Salt Lake City's budget for snow removal is actually in better shape following the 2008 Christmas storm than it was after holiday snow in 2007, public works officials said. The city, which budgets for snow removal based on the previous year, also left those funds intact during recent budget cuts.

"In all of the budget cuts that we made (to offset declining sales-tax revenues), we didn't cut a penny from snow removal," said Helen Langan, spokeswoman for Mayor Ralph Becker.

Other east-side cities, including Sandy, Midvale, Holladay and Cottonwood Heights, have also been able to weather the storms, officials said. But administrators from those cities said budgeting for snow removal is always tricky. Shortfalls and over-budgeting are common.

"We had a similar situation last year, early storms that came through and really taxed our budget," said South Salt Lake Public Works Director Dennis Pay.

On Christmas, Peters found himself loading salt and plowing roads as his crew worked 13-hour shifts, making limited headway against a set of heavy storms.

"It was not for lack of effort. It's just limited resources," he said. "When we thought maybe we'll start getting caught up, an hour or so later it would start coming down again. Once that happens, you're back to square one."