Norad Tracks Santa Tonight

The local radio station meteorologists are keeping an eye on the weather conditions for Santa and his reindeer tonight.

After months and months of planning, toy making, loading the sleigh and checking the nice and naughty lists over and over to make sure no one is missed- word form the North Pole is that Santa is well prepared this year.

In light of the current world situation, international authorities use four high-tech systems to track Santa – radar, satellites, SantaCams and jet fighter aircraft. Norad brings you all the information that is gathered across the globe in one place. They also ensure that nothing hinders Santa’s all important journey.

It all starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system has 47 installations strung across Canada’s North and Alaska. NORAD makes a point of checking the radar closely for indications of Santa Claus leaving the North Pole on Christmas Eve. They will download the information to Google Earth.

The moment the radar detects that Santa has lifted off, the geo-synchronous satellites follow him. (That’s a cool phrase meaning that the satellite is always fixed over the same spot on the Earth.) They are at 22,300 miles above the Earth so they don’t miss anything.

Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras pre-positioned at many locations around the world only on Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.

The fighter jets that escort Santa are Canadian NORAD fighter pilots, flying the CF-18, take off out of Newfoundland to intercept and welcome Santa to North America. Then at numerous locations in Canada other CF-18 fighter pilots escort Santa, while in the United States American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or F-16 get the thrill of flying with Santa and the famous Reindeer Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph.

At the Santa-fly in Santa said “They do a great job looking after me. I used to do it all myself but since NORAD started helping out in the 1950’s I can be a lot quicker and I know my route is safe.”

Watch Santa as he flies on Christmas Eve: Norad Santa Tracker

Any sightings? Let us know in myMotherLode.com’s Forums or sign in and leave a comment.