At least one Winnipeg towing company was kept busy on Tuesday, thanks to a cold snap that left many motorists needing a boost.

Arctic air spread across the southern half of Manitoba this week, driving temperatures down to around –25 C on Tuesday.

Motorists who cannot plug in their vehicles on cold winter days or nights should start them at least every four hours, says John Tennent of Crane Towing. (CBC)

The sudden chill was in sharp contrast to the unseasonably mild winter weather many Winnipeggers had enjoyed over the last few weeks.

That could explain the 300-plus calls for service Crane Towing received on Tuesday — more than triple the number of calls it would normally get, said owner John Tennent.

"A lot of the people we're going to, they just need boosts, and a lot of them are due to the fact that they didn't bother plugging [their vehicles] in," Tennent told CBC News.

"They figured they haven't plugged it in all year and it should start, but [the temperature has] dropped quite a bit."

Tennent said customers were waiting an average of two hours for a boost on Tuesday.

Environment Canada is forecasting a daytime high of –22 C on Wednesday, but it's expected to feel as cold as –34 C with the wind chill.

Tennent said those who cannot plug in their vehicles should start them at least every four hours.

"If you can't plug it in when you're at work, you probably would want to start it at lunch time and let it run for 20 minutes, and then by the end of the day it should be fine," he said.

Skating trail could open soon

While commuters may not be too thrilled with the cold snap, officials at The Forks are happy because their river ice-skating trail is closer to opening.

Two skating rinks on the Assiniboine River are set to open on Wednesday, said Paul Jordan, chief operating officer with the Forks North Portage Partnership.

Jordan could not say when the entire trail will open on the Assiniboine and Red rivers, but he hopes a few more nights of temperatures below –20 C will speed things up.

"It's the only way that the river's going to freeze up so that we can start to get our river trail in. As cold as it is, we're welcoming the weather," he said.

The river trail at The Forks is usually open by mid-January.