Bruce Springsteen said it best: “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”
While the rest of us are wrapping up work, Santa Claus is in the midst of his busiest day of the year, flying across the globe, distributing wrapped-up Christmas gifts to hundreds of million of kids.
Want to know where Santa is, and when he’s coming to your town?
For “real-time” tracking of Santa and his reindeer, NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is providing a live feed all day on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24, which started with Santa’s departure from the North Pole this morning at 6 a.m. ET.
Eager kids—and let’s face it, just-as-excited adults—can “see” where Santa is from moment to moment (at the time of this writing: Russia) over at NORAD’s website by clicking on “View Santa’s route on a 2D map” and Santa’s big red hat.
At last look, Santa hit some snow over Russia on his way down to the Indian Ocean, and has been delivering a lot of packages: 2,026,550,394 to be exact, at last glance at the gift tracker in the upper right corner.
What is Santa’s route?
NORAD has been tracking Santa’s route for the past 70 years, which traditionally takes him from the North Pole, down the International Date Line to the Pacific Ocean, through the South Pacific, New Zealand, and Australia. Then, he typically heads west through Asia, Africa, and Europe, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Canada, then here to the U.S., before heading south to Mexico, Central America, then South America.
However, keep in mind that due to weather, Santa’s route can change.