The most wonderful time of the year is finally here, and we are all waiting for Christmas festivities to begin. Adults and kids alike count down the days until Christmas Eve as waiting for presents from Santa Claus. Thanks to today’s’ technology kids can use online trackers to follow Santa’s sleigh. By using The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Google’s Santa Tracker you can see exactly where Santa is in the world.
Once Santa has made his list, checked it twice, and finds out who has been naughty or nice he sets off on his sleigh. Christmas Eve is a busy time for Santa as he visits more than 300,000 homes per minute! Santa’s journey begins in the South Pacific, then travels west to Australia and New Zealand followed by Japan. After visiting Asia, Africa and Western Europe, Santa concludes his journey with Canada, North America, Central America and South America.
Below you will find all the information you need to track Santa on Christmas Eve. But do not forget to put out milk and cookies, plus carrots for his reindeer, before he arrives in your city. And Merry Christmas from all the staff at Premium Insurance!
How to Track Santa with NORAD and Google
- The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
Throughout the year NORAD, monitors aerospace in the event of nuclear attack. But on every Christmas Eve, for the last 60 years, NORAD monitors the skies for Santa’s sleigh. On a Christmas Eve night shift back in 1955, Colonel Harry Shoup answered a call made to their top-secret line in Colorado Springs. The caller was a young child calling about a newspaper advertising Santa’s Toyland from a department store that was printed by mistake. Since that Christmas Eve, call operators informed children calling throughout the night of Santa’s whereabouts. Now volunteers respond to emails and answer thousands of calls regarding Santa’s location. But this year Santa’s followers can track his journey in 3D on the NORAD website from 8am Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on Christmas Eve.
- Google’s Santa Tracker
Google launched Santa Tracker in 2004 following the success of NORAD’s holiday role. Every year on December 1st Santa’s Village launches on the website with fun games and educational resources for kids. On Christmas Eve, Google’s Santa Tracker kicks off at midnight Pacific Standard Time (PST) on December 24th. Children can monitor Santa’s progress from city to city on their desktop, mobile and tablet devices.