The battery was lead-acid and was near its lifetime of 6 years in the cold of winter.
The lube in the tire inflator's mechanical parts was probably thick with the cold.

I assume a cold tire is stiff and needs more air pressure for inflation than a soft rubbery tire in summer.

EDIT: The cold engine in winter needs a lot more current to start than when it is warm in summer.
The Cold Cranking Amps rating of the battery is also much higher in the warmth of summer.
I am in Canada, not in the sweltering tropics.

 

I am in Canada, not in the sweltering tropics.

So am I, a little due west of you!

 

Last year used my 12V tire inflator in winter with the engine not running. Then the engine did not start with the almost dead 6 years old battery. I used the power supply from a printer to charge the battery overnight and the battery has been fine ever since.
I never thought that a tire inflator uses so much current. Of course, I will turn on the engine next time.

Been there and done that, except it was changing a trailer tire on the shoulder of the interstate with s few inches of snow on the ground. And not quite light enough, so I had the flashers on. And my tired old Dodge van, full of family getting cold..When I was done changing the tire there was Not enough battery left to crank the engine, but still enough to use the CB to call for help. And it was about 7AM on a Saturday morning in late December.
FORTUNATELY a truck driver going the other way heard me and passed the word to others headed my way. And also fortunately I had long jumper cables so that when a really raggedy dump truck pulled up behind me I could get a jump start. His truck had a hole in the hood for a heavy chain with a padlock, so you know it was not a new truck. In less than a minute I was able to crank the engine and it started up and disconnected and thanked the driver very much. So heavy jumper cables are the way to go. My set is about #6 wire, salvaged from a heavy duty six conductor cable.

 

Around here in the winter, you cannot afford to park the car outside overnight with a slightly flat tire, You end up driving with "Square tires" for a few blocks.

 

Around here in the winter, you cannot afford to park the car outside overnight with a slightly flat tire, You end up driving with "Square tires" for a few blocks.

At least the car won't roll away if you forget to put the parking brake on.