Santa Tracker 2020: When St. Nick Arrives In Southern California

It’s been a tough year, and while few traditions this holiday season will go on untouched by the coronavirus pandemic, here’s one we can still count on — seeing whether Santa Claus is en route to Southern California with a sleigh full of Christmas gifts.

He's expected to arrive in Southern California between 9 p.m. and midnight, according to the folks at NORAD.

Tracking Santa is a tried-and-true way to bring an extra spark of joy to kids this holiday season. It’s also a good incentive to get the kiddos tucked in by convincing them that Rudolph’s red nose is trained on your house and Santa is, in fact, on his way.

One way to track Santa is through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which keeps count of the number of gifts children who went to bed on time have received.

The U.S. military command charged with protecting the nation’s airspace also tracks Santa’s trajectory. In fact, NORAD radar picked up St. Nick’s sleigh as it departed the North Pole Wednesday.

Kids can also keep their eye on Santa’s path using the Google Santa Tracker.

As of 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the tracker spotted St. Nick over Karsakpay, Kazakhstan, which was Christmas Day there. He's already delivered over 2.2 billion gifts, according to NORAD.

Another way to keep your littles amused is to compare the differences between the two trackers. You can find them below:

Google Santa Tracker

NORAD Tracks Santa