NORAD’s 2016 Santa Tracker goes live

Counting down the days until Christmas? Take it to the next level: NORAD’s Santa Tracker just went live for 2016.

Each year the site counts down until Santa Claus begins making his annual rounds for Christmas, then tracks his movements across the globe. You can follow his route from city to city using the website, the mobile app for Android or iOS, or by following NORAD’s official Santa-tracking Twitter account.

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This is NORAD’s 61st year tracking the Jolly Old Elf. According to noradsanta.org, the tradition began in 1955 when an ad misprinted a phone number where children were supposed to be able to reach Santa. People calling that number were actually calling the operations hotline for the commander-in-chief of the Continental Air Defense Command. The director of operations at the time decided to play along and had his staff “check the radar” and give kids updates on Santa’s location.

NORAD, which replaced CONAD, has been tracking Santa ever since.