At the time of this posting, Santa Claus is in Guangzhou, China and will arrive in Kowloon, Hong Hong in 1 minute and 36 seconds.
How do I know this? Because I can track him on NORAD’s website (click here), Google Maps (below), Google Earth, my iPhone (click here for app), your Android (click here for app), courtesy of NORAD.
And you can also become a Fan of Norad’s Track Santa Team on Facebook (click here), Twitter (click here) and Google Plus (click here).
And if you’ve got kids who want to call NORAD and speak to one of the thousands of volunteers manning the phones to give updates on Santa’s location…the lines when live at 4AM this morning…so just call (877) HI-NORAD [877-446-6723]. First Lady Michelle Obama was one of the volunteers last year, btw…she was patched in from Hawaii.
History of NORAD’s Santa Tracking
Here’s some history for you…taken directly from Norad’s website:
For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight.
The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations “hotline.” The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.
In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa.
Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to phone calls and emails from children all around the world. In addition, we now track Santa using the Internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa’s whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website.
Finally, media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide updates on Santa’s journey.
Santa FAQ’s
There are also reports in from “Santa Cams” around the world for your kids to watch…just click on the video icons on the map.
NORAD also provides the answers to a lot of Frequently Asked Questions about Santa, including how he can travel the world in 24 hours, how he can get down Chimneys and if their planes ever intercept Santa. It’s adorable and a great read with the rugrats. You can reach that link by clicking here.
