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MANALI: Snowfall for the whole day on Thursday thrilled tourists in this town which recorded minimum temperature of minus 5 degrees C, lowest of the season. The residents of Manali woke up to a white sheet of snow on Thursday. This was the coldest morning of the season. After witnessing some sunshine, snowfall restarted in the afternoon and thrilled thousands of tourists here. Tourist places of the town have come alive again with heavy tourist crowd. The visitors, mostly from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra, enjoyed snowfall on the Mall Road of the town, Solang valley and nearby places. Solang and Kothi have received 10cm of fresh snow. Rohtang pass, which is inaccessible in winters, has received nearly 15cm of snow. At minus 9.3 degrees C Keylong was the coldest in Himachal. After Christmas, tourists are thronging Manali for new year celebrations. The snowfall has doubled the joy of celebrations. Hoteliers, who were facing slump in business since July, are happy after fresh snowfall. Now they expect more snowfall during new year eve to make occasion more special and memorable. There are chances of White New Year as local meteorological centre has predicted rain and snow on mid and high hills of the state on December 30, January 1 and 2. National level alpine skiing and snowboarding championships are starting at Solang from January 2. Fresh snowfall on the slopes will make competitions more interesting. Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association (HPWGA) president Roopu Negi said, “Snowfall is never enough for winter games. All national skiing teams and clubs are coming for championships. We are praying for very heavy snowfall that will make races smooth but challenging.” Meanwhile, long traffic jams are annoying both tourists and local residents. The national highway has temporarily been shifted to outside the