It’s the question that will be on every child’s mind this Christmas Eve: Where is Santa now and when will he get to my house?
Where is Santa now?
The NORAD Santa tracker will be live Christmas Eve, and you can see where the man in the red suit is traveling in real time. When Santa’s sleigh, pulled by his eight reindeer, is on the move, be sure to keep a close eye on where he’s traveling to make sure you’re sleeping long before he’s set to arrive at your home.
When will Santa be in Georgia?
Now that you know how to track St. Nick’s whereabouts, you’re probably wondering when you can expect him to arrive in Georgia. The answer is complicated.
You will want to be tucked in bed long before Santa is set to arrive in your city, but because Santa’s secret route is affected by unpredictable factors, such as weather and the number of stops, no one can know exactly when his sleigh will be in a certain town. And since he travels faster than starlight, it’s impossible for NORAD to post every single location.
However, here’s what we do know, per NORAD:
- Historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then moves up and down across the Eastern, then the Western hemispheres. (He usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west.)
- He usually stops in most cities between 9 p.m. and midnight (local time), so make sure you’re asleep or he might skip over your house.
The oldest way to track Santa is about as advanced as you can get. NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is normally tasked with detecting potential attacks from missiles, aircraft or space vehicles. But for more than 60 years, the U.S.-Canadian joint operation has taken on the additional mission of tracking Santa and his sleigh on Christmas Eve. Apparently, Rudolph’s infrared nose helps reveal their precise location. Don’t worry about Santa, though — NORAD certainly knows the difference between a missile and a sleigh.
NORAD tracks Santa’s journey in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Chinese.
NORAD’s posts on social media sites like Facebook also help update the public on the big guy’s progress and let watchers know where he was spotted most recently and where he’s expected to visit next. They also sometimes include additional intelligence information, such as the fact they believe Santa weighs about 260 pounds (before cookies).
Kids who want to track Santa on their phones — or borrow their parents’ — can download the NORAD Tracks Santa app on iTunes and Google Play. Games, stories and other fun content are also available.
And don’t panic if your internet goes down. You can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) starting at 6 a.m. EST on Christmas Eve to get Santa tracking updates from a real person.
Of course, you probably use Google to search for everything else, so why not Santa? Google’s Santa Tracker has been on the job for more than 15 years and, in addition to tracking, offers lots of Santa’s Village content in the days before Christmas.
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