Saint Nick Is On His Way: How To Track Santa’s Flight For Christmas 2021

We have some good news and some bad news. Santa Claus is on his way to Grand Junction and again this year NORAD is tracking his flight.

It's Good News, Bad News

It's great news for all the good boys and girls in the Grand Valley, who will be getting a nice bundle of toys, but, it's not such good news for those on the naughty list who will find their stockings filled with coal on Christmas morning.

It's Not Santa's First Visit To Grand Junction

Of course, Santa has already made a few appearances in the Grand Valley this holiday season. Some of Santa's official duties include lighting Grand Junction's Christmas tree, making sure there's plenty of Christmas spirit at the parade of lights, and, of course, he's had plenty of visits with the kids.

Checking the List

The pre-Christmas visits are all part of Santa's process for making his list, checking it twice, and figuring out who is naughty and nice. That way he knows how much coal to load on the sleigh.

Scoping Out the Detours

This year, Santa had to make some extra trips to Grand Junction so he could map out all the construction zones he needs to avoid in order to make his Grand Junction visit as efficient as possible. He certainly doesn't have time to slow down or take the necessary road construction detours.

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NORAD Tracks Santa

For the 66th year, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is tracking Santa's Christmas Eve journey around the globe. Millions of children around the world are counting on them.

Follow Santa On the Official App

One of the best ways to follow the big guy is with the official NORAD Tracks Santa app so parents and kids can follow Santa all the way to the end of the Christmas season.

Beginning at 2:00am local time on December 24, visitors to www.noradsanta.org  or the app can see updates as Santa prepares for his flight.

Santa Tracking Is Just A Phone Call Away

Beginning at 4:00am, trackers can dial the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) to inquire as to Santa's whereabouts. Because of COVID concerns, the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center will have fewer phone operators, which means you will either speak directly to a live operator or you'll get a regularly updated recording.

Other Ways to Track Santa

Another way to track Santa this year is by asking Alexa - she knows almost everything. You can ask for Santa's location through the NORAD Tracks Santa skill for Amazon Alexa.

OnStar subscribers can press the OnStar button in their vehicles to get Santa updates.

If you don't have Alexa or OnStar you can use the Bing search engine to find out where Santa is on his Christmas Eve journey.

Newspaper Misprint Starts 66-Year Christmas Tradition

The tradition of tracking Santa has been around since 1955. As the story goes, a local newspaper advertisement said children could call Santa directly. However, there was a misprint and the number it provided went to the crew commander on duty, U.S. Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center. Realizing a mistake had been made, Shoup assured the child he was talking to Santa and then assigned a duty officer to continue answering calls. When NORAD was created in 1958, it continued on with the Christmas Eve tradition and has never stopped.