Business is brisk for some as the mercury remains below -40 C around the city and across many parts of the territory but not so good for others.

'Busy, busy, busy,' said Amy Thompson, co-owner of Superior Towing.

She said the company's three trucks are going non-stop around the clock, providing battery boosts but more often towing frozen vehicles to garages to be thawed out.

At least one car wash she knows of is letting motorists use its bays to thaw their vehicles, she said.

'It is remarkably busy.'

There is not a lot of relief in sight until Sunday, meteorologist Allen Coldwells of the Pacific Weather Centre said this morning from his Vancouver office.

'We will get a bit of a trough developing into southwest Yukon on Monday, so that should help to develop a bit of a milder pattern, and that should help to bring the temperatures back up to around normal,' Coldwells said.

He said normal for this time of year is a high of -13 C and a low of -22 C.

Last night's low for Whitehorse was recorded at -45.1 C, according to Environment Canada statistics.

A Yukon low of -51 C was recorded at Carmacks and at the Ogilvie station along the Dempster Highway. The warmest temperature was also recorded along the Dempster, a -16 C at Rock River.

The warmer temperatures at Rock River were due primarily to its higher elevation, Coldwells said.

Elsewhere across the territory, the recorded overnight low for Watson Lake was -49.4 C; Beaver Creek, -48.4 C; Dawson, -48 C; Faro, -44.7 C and Mayo, -44 C.

The Whitehorse temperature around noon had shot up to a balmy -43.1 C, and it was expected to reach -40 C later today.

But Coldwells said it's expected the capital will dip back down to -45 tonight, with a high of -35 C tomorrow. The senior meteorologist said his forecast pegs the Thursday night low at -39 C with a high Friday of -33 C.

Friday night's low will climb to -37 C, and the high Saturday is forecast at -27. Coldwells said he is calling for a low of -30 C for Saturday night, with a daytime high Sunday of -20.

'So it is definitely staying on the cold side for the next few days.'

The last time a low of -40 or colder was recorded in Whitehorse was on Jan. 14, 2000. The last extended spell of -40 or more dates back to January 1991, when there was no relief for the first eight days of the month, Coldwell confirmed

It was during that cold snap that the Saan clothing store on Second Avenue burned down. It was later rebuilt at the same site.

So bitter is the current cold wave that a Whitehorse couple had their front door knob break clean off.

For towing companies, heating fuel companies, service garages and the auto suppliers, the colder-than-cold weather means a boom for business.

'It's cold and we are busy,' said Alan Kidd, operations manager for North of 60 fuel company. 'The phones are ringing steady and we are trying to keep up with everybody, as soon as we can.'

For Whitehorse Esso, the automotive repair business has zoomed upward an estimated 50 per cent or more, said co-owner Dave Newell.

Boosts, tows, flat tires and broken plug-in cords are commonplace.

But the increase in business is likely to continue on for even longer than the cold spell, as vehicle owners begin to address the leaky seals and cracked CV boots the cold weather brings on, he said.

Whitehorse Transit manager Dave Muir said ridership on city buses was up 18 per cent on Monday, and 30 per cent yesterday.

The wait for a cab company can be three-quarters of an hour, or more.

The Mount Sima ski hill was closed last weekend. As well, the Whitehorse liquor store was shut down for most of the day Monday after Jack Frost played havoc with the mall's propane heating system.

But the frigid temperatures cancelled Tuesday's flights on Air North's northern routes, while delaying by some two hours the arrival from Vancouver of Air Canada's ZIP service.

And while the weather drives down attendance at the local theatres, the dip is only slight, said theatre manager Ron Stanyer.

Attendance at schools in Whitehorse and around the territory, however, is a different story.

'It seem here our elementary schools are getting particularly hard-hit, with anywhere from one-quarter to a half of the students away,' said Anthony Delorenzo of the Department of Education.

Selkirk Elementary School was missing 100 out of 230 students today, for instance, while Jack Hulland was down 100 out of 370.

Classes at Takhini Elementary were down anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of their students, and Hidden Valley was short a full 50 per cent across the board, he said.

Delorenzo said the Ross River School had 10 students, instead of its full complement of 90, though Dawson City's Robert Service School was down less than 10 per cent, with just 20 missing from 240.

The spokesman said parents should be reminded that Friday is a no-school day for all Whitehorse-area schools, except Golden Horn Elementary School.