Unlike the last time around, the city of Portland quickly called a parking ban Tuesday in anticipation of potentially more than 3 inches of snow.

Cars can’t be parked on streets from 10 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday. Vehicles left on city streets after 10 p.m. will be towed, the city said in a news release.

The ban stands in contrast to the city’s approach to a Dec. 28 storm that was forecast to leave 6 inches of snow. That time, the city announced that it would not institute a parking ban.

The decision led to criticism and complaints from residents that the lack of a parking ban and snow removal made parking difficult for many, especially on some narrow neighborhood streets.

Mayor Ethan Strimling said in a Jan. 4 radio interview that the city was revisiting its policy and would institute a parking ban for any storm predicted to drop more than 4 inches of snow. He took responsibility for the Dec. 28 decision, even though parking bans are called by the city manager. He also noted that the National Weather Service had predicted a changeover to rain for the December storm, which didn’t occur.

“You’ve got to get the basic stuff right,” Strimling said at the time. “If you don’t get the little stuff right, then people won’t trust you to do this big stuff.”

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for Tuesday evening and overnight. It’s predicting a mixture of rain and snow before 1 a.m. in Portland and snow likely from 1 to 4 a.m. One to 3 inches of accumulation is expected.

“With a forecast of 3 to 4 inches coupled with freezing temps the rest of this week and a larger storm coming on Saturday night, we are calling a citywide parking ban tonight to get the streets clear,” City Manager Jon Jennings said in a written statement Tuesday.