A car gets towed from Milwaukee Avenue on the first night of the city's annual winter overnight parking ban. View Full Caption The Expired Meter.com

CHICAGO — Be careful where you park after work on Wednesday: Chicago's city's annual winter overnight parking ban starts early Thursday morning, officials warned.

Every year, the start of the snow route ban catches hundreds of drivers unaware, forcing them to travel to the city's auto pound — and pay at least $230 — to retrieve their cars, officials said.

From Dec. 1 to April 1, the city bans parking on 107 miles of arterial streets from 3 to 7 a.m. daily. The ban is a precautionary measure in case the city needs to plow the streets after a snowfall, but it remains in effect even if it doesn't snow.

Drivers who ignore — or forget about — the ban will get socked with a $60 parking ticket, a $150 tow fee and $20 per day in storage fees.

A measure proposed last year by Ald. Robert Maldonado (26th) that would have required city officials to warn drivers about the ban before towing their wheels was never voted on by the City Council.

A 2014 effort to scrap the ban entirely was rejected.

If your car gets hauled away, you can locate it using the city's database of towed vehicles.

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