Texas tornado twists just miles from Google data center
Two tornadoes were sighted near Amarillo, Texas Tuesday night, with one touching down just miles from the Hoffman Data Center.
A storm chaser caught a large tornado spinning behind a wind farm near Claude, Texas, on Sept. 29 as severe weather impacted the Texas Panhandle. Flash flooding also affected parts of the region.
Two tornadoes were reported by storm chasers on Tuesday near Amarillo, Texas, one of which spun near a data center.
At 8:12 p.m. CDT, a tornado was spotted southeast of Claude, Texas, about 4 miles northwest of the Hoffman Data Center, currently under construction for Google under the name Llano Project. The tornado was recorded on video amongst wind turbines at the Goodnight Wind Farm. The National Weather Service rated the tornado as an EFU because no damage was done.
A tornado was sighted in the Goodnight Wind Farm in Claude, Texas, on Sept. 29, only 4 miles northwest of a data center.
What happens if a tornado hits a data center?
Texas has the second-highest concentration of data centers in the U.S., after Virginia, according to the U.S. Data Center. Because of the state's size and location in Tornado Alley, Texas averages 133 tornadoes per year, the most in the nation.
"No large-scale data center campus has yet been directly hit by a tornado," Data Center Dynamics (DCD) said in a July report on data centers vs. tornadoes.
A tornado spins near the Goodnight wind farm in Claude, Texas, on Sept. 29, 2026. (806 Storm Chasers via Storyful)
"Data centers, just like other buildings, can sustain significant damage if hit by a strong tornado," AccuWeather VP of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin explained. "Building codes typically require structures to be built to withstand impacts from EF0-EF2 tornadoes, but these codes vary by building type and geographic region."
Tornadoes with an EF3 rating or higher pose the greatest risk of significant damage to a data center, DePodwin added, noting that AccuWeather protects thousands of organizations with its site-specific SkyGuard service for tornadoes and other hazards.
DCD estimates it would cost 10 to 15 percent more to build a data center designed to withstand an EF3 tornado, making it more likely that insurers will pick up the bill in the rare event of a direct hit.
A tornado is seen near Amarillo, Texas, on the evening of Sept. 29, 2026. (Aaron Rigsby)
At 9:41 p.m. CDT, just after dark, storm chaser Aaron Rigsby filmed a second tornado touching down just southwest of Amarillo.
The storms came amidst severe flooding in New Mexico and northern Texas as moisture from Hurricane Polo moved northeastward from Mexico.
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