NORAD to track Santa for 54th year

JASPER COUNTY - by Steve Stewart/KJAS - The North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, is once again making preparations to track Santa Claus for the 54th year as he makes his 'round the world trip on Christmas Eve, and during the early hours of Christmas morning.

NORAD has been tracking Santa each year since 1955 from their Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center in Colorado.

On Tuesday, local aviation officials announced that full clearance to transition all class of controlled airspace has been granted, in advance, to Santa Claus.

Additionally, Santa Claus has been given clearance to land on every rooftop in the region, from Anahuac to Zavalla.

You can track Santa Claus on the NORAD website at http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html or you can call NORAD for Santa Claus updates at 1-877-Hi-NORAD.

Here is the Christmas weather forecast from the National Weather Service for the Jasper area;

Christmas Eve... Partly cloudy, use of red nosed reindeer recommended while transitioning cloud layers. Much colder, lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

Christmas Day... Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 50s.