NORAD Santa Tracker: St. Nick Will Have Clear Skies In Bronxville

EASTCHESTER, NY — Santa Claus will have decent flying conditions on Christmas Eve in the Hudson Valley, with the National Weather Service forecasting clear skies tonight. NORAD's Santa Tracker is also up and running, and you can follow Santa's progress throughout the day and into the night here on Patch.

The NWS says:

We'll see any light snow this morning, mainly over northern portions of the Tri-State, change to all rain by late morning. Highs today should be near to slightly above normal, mainly in the lower to mid 40s.

A passing trough of low pressure will keep some clouds around into this evening, followed by clearing in its wake later tonight. Lows tonight should be near to slightly above normal. There could be some gusty northwest winds this evening.

Christmas Day will be mostly sunny with near normal temperatures as Canadian high pressure builds towards the region. Wednesday will also be mostly sunny. Highs both days should be near normal, from the upper 30s to lower 40s across the region.

For 60 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight.

The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement misprinted the telephone number for children to call Santa. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD commander-in-chief's operations "hotline." The director of operations at the time, Col. Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa.

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