Santa Claus is on schedule to reach North America, according to Norad radar tracking. (Mary Schwalm/Associated Press)

Santa Claus is expected to arrive in North America on schedule despite a furious Texas storm system making its way north, according to the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad).

A major storm that has hit the U.S. Midwest and Plains states threatens to dump up to 25 centimetres of snow on some parts of Canada.

Norad, which has been tracking Santa's journey through satellite maps, radar and web cameras, is confident he will make it to Canada without fail.

"Santa is a superb pilot, in fact, it's a mystery to us how good he is," Lt.-Gen. Marcel Duval of Norad said Friday. "He can find his way very well, as he has done for so many years."

Santa and his sleigh — led by Rudolph, of course — made their first stops in northeastern Russia early Christmas morning.

He touched down in Russian towns Anadyr and Provideniya just after midnight local time. After climbing down chimneys and leaving presents, he made his way south, stopping off in several locations in Papua New Guinea, Guam and Australia.

People can follow Santa's trip through the official Norad tracks Santa website. Videos and pictures of his journey are uploaded as he makes his way across the planet.

Norad has been tracking Jolly Old Saint Nicholas since 1955. That year, a Sears ad in a Colorado newspaper gave out a special phone number for children to call to speak to Santa. However, the ad's number was misprinted and children hoping for an audience with Santa were instead directed to a secret Norad line. Instead of asking the newspaper to drop the ad, Norad began fielding Santa-related inquiries and has been offering updates on his annual trip ever since.

Norad has teamed with Google since 2004 to allow people around the world to track Santa through online maps and Google Earth.

Santa is expected to conclude his trip somewhere in Hawaii.