Ready to track Santa? Norad tracks Santa’s 2009 flight. Norad tracks Santa Claus with its Santa Tracker.

But before you track Santa, there is some good news and bad news. The bad news is the FAA was reporting 1 hour delays for air travel near Denver International (DEN) because of poor weather conditions. The good news is that Denver International has now been cleared! Santa can now come to Denver.

But how about Boston’s Logan and New York’s JFK airports? Will weather prevent Santa from flying into the North East? So far so good.

LALATE will be watching weather updates through Christmas Day for you. And Norad will be tracking Santa once he is in the air!

Norad has been Santa’s tracker for 50 years. 50 years? Yeah, Santa is old. But Santa works out. Dealing with Rudolph is a workout enough. But there is good news - Santa has lots of gifts for you and me and everyone this year. Are you ready?

The Santa Tracker started in 1955.

“The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. 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, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check 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. …

“Colonel Shoup”? What a name!

“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. NORAD inherited the tradition of tracking Santa.

“Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to Christmas Eve phone calls and emails from children. In addition, we now track Santa using the internet. Last year, millions of people who wanted to know Santa’s whereabouts visited the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site.”

They use jets to help watch Santa come our way!

“Tracking Santa starts with the NORAD radar system called the North Warning System. This powerful radar system consists of 47 installations strung across the northern border of North America. On Christmas Eve, NORAD monitors the radar continuously for indications that Santa Claus has left the North Pole.

“The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in eo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface are equipped with infrared sensors which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph’s bright red nose gives off an infrared signature which allow our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa.

>> *** CLICK HERE TO TRACK SANTA !! *** <<

“The third tracking system is the Santa Cam network. We began using it in 1998, which is the year we put our Santa Tracking program on the internet. Santa Cams are ultra-cool, high-tech, high-speed digital cameras that are pre-positioned at many locations around the world. NORAD only uses these cameras once a year on Christmas Eve. The cameras capture images and videos of Santa and his reindeer as they make their journey around the world.

“The fourth system is made up of fighter jets. Canadian NORAD fighter pilots flying the CF-18 intercept and welcome Santa to North America. In the United States, American NORAD fighter pilots in either the F-15 or the F-16 get the thrill of flying alongside Santa and his famous reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph.”

To track Santa, click HERE!

Get ready - Santa is on his way! LALATE will continue to update up until Christmas!

For continuing coverage of SANTA on LALATE click here: http://news.lalate.com/category/santa.