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Pull out your binoculars: Albuquerque ranks in top five best cities to see Santa's sleigh
Jacquelyn Hernandez, 2, held by her mother, Yvonne Hernandez, meets Santa Claus in a gondola during Holidays Take Flight event at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, Sunday, December 7, 2008.
If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa as he flies across the world delivering gifts to boys and girls this Christmas, Albuquerque is an excellent place to be.
Albuquerque ranked fourth out of the top 15 best cities for Santa sightings, according to a study conducted by Assurance IQ, a home insurance company.
The study looked at factors such as search interest in the Santa Tracker, elevation, light pollution, weather conditions and average visibility in December to give cities a score out of 100.
The study gave Albuquerque a score of 79.6 out of 100, and a 46.1 out of 50 on the clear sky scale with relatively low light pollution and mostly clear skies in December.
The top city for potential Santa sightings is Colorado Springs, its high altitude of more than 6,000 feet gives residents an advantage.
Denver ranked second, and Provo, UT ranked third; fifth place went to Tucson, AZ, rounding out the top five best places for Santa sightings this Christmas.
| Top 15 cities for Santa Sightings Rank | City | Score out of 100 | |
| 1 | Colorado Springs, CO | 85.8 | |
| 2 | Denver, CO | 84 | |
| 3 | Provo, UT | 80.8 | |
| 4 | Albuquerque, NM | 79.6 | |
| 5 | Tucson, AZ | 77.6 | |
| 6 | Ogden, UT | 77.3 | |
| 7 | Salt Lake City, UT | 71.4 | |
| 8 | El Paso, TX | 70.60 | |
| 9 | Las Vegas, NV | 66.6 | |
| 10 | Boise, ID | 64.2 | |
| 11 | Phoenix, AZ | 64.2 | |
| 12 | Riverside, CA | 63.6 | |
| 13 | Wichita, KS | 61.5 | |
| 14 | Sarasota, FL | 60.9 | |
| 15 | Spokane, WA | 58.6 |
