NORAD TRACKS SANTA

Written by: Brian Neudorff

With not much weather to track around here for Christmas I figured I would track Santa today. I have worked Christmas Eve for the last 9 years and I really do enjoy it. One of the best things I get to do on this day is Track Santa. As far back as I can remember the local weatherman would always track Santa during the evening broadcast. With the onset of the internet it got a lot easier and with better graphics for TV weather you could really showcase this to the young and young at heart. (Click here to Track Santa)

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has been tracking Santa for 55 years. And from the NORAD Track Santa Website here is why they started to track Santa:

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.

It is so wonderful to see how they have adapted to technology. Not only is it through the web but now Google Earth and even on your mobile device. Because my three boys still believe in Santa Claus these nights are so exciting and wonderful. Merry Christmas to all of you.