Santa Tracker 2020: When St. Nick Arrives In WilCo

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Not to state the obvious, but it's been a tough year. And while few holiday traditions will emerge untouched by the coronavirus pandemic, there's one we can still count on: Tracking Santa en route to Williamson County with a sleigh full of Christmas gifts.

It's a tried-and-true method of ensuring 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.

Children across the U.S. — and the world for that matter — were worried Santa might not be able to make his annual gift-giving trip because of the coronavirus. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top authority on infectious disease, told CNN he personally traveled to the North Pole to give Santa Claus the COVID-19 vaccine before his travels to enable him to travel the world on Christmas Eve.

"Santa Claus will be coming to town this year," Fauci told the news network. “I took a trip up there to the North Pole; I went there, and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go.”

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 tasked with protecting the nation's airspace also tracks Santa's trajectory.

NORAD has been tracking Santa since 1955 when a young child accidentally dialed the unlisted phone number of the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, believing she was calling Santa Claus after seeing a promotion in a local newspaper, according to the agency's website.

"Air Force Colonel Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night, was quick to realize a mistake had been made, and assured the youngster that CONAD would guarantee Santa a safe journey from the North Pole," according to the NORAD website. "Thus a tradition was born that rolled over to NORAD when it was formed in 1958. Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa's location on Dec. 24 to millions across the globe."

NORAD tracks everything that flies in and around North America in defense of the homeland 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, according to the website. "On Dec. 24, we have the very special mission of also tracking Santa," officials noted with palpable pride.

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

Another way to keep the little ones amused is to compare the differences between the two trackers.

Track Santa via the following links:

• Google Santa Tracker
• NORAD Tracks Santa

At last check, Santa and his reindeer were spotted coming down the Riverwalk in Tampa, Florida, along the Hillsborough River. So tell the kids to sit tight. Santa is on his way to Texas!