Call Center Company in Midland, TX

A weather record was set Tuesday evening in Midland thanks to the effect of a storm nearby.

At 7:04 p.m., a dry microburst associated with a weakening thunderstorm set off what’s known as a “virga bomb,” causing a sudden 111 mph wind gust.

“Virga” are streaks or wisps of precipitation falling from a cloud but that evaporate before reaching the ground, according to a National Weather Service definition. In certain cases, shafts of virga may precede a microburst.

As explained by San Antonio Express-News meteorologist Anthony Franze in a Facebook post: “A virga bomb can happen when a thunderstorm's heavy rain falls into very dry air, forcing it to evaporate before reaching the ground. When that happens, the air cools down and rushes to the ground at extreme speeds.”

Kevin Lamberson, meteorologist at the NWS office in Midland, said that virga bombs happen in really quick bursts. “You’ll feel a sudden gust of wind, and then it’s gone. They’re a rare phenomenon, for sure, and it’s the first time I’ve ever encountered anything like this as a meteorologist.”

While a 111 mph wind gust is a record in Midland, it’s not a state record. That honor is shared by Aransas Pass and Robstown, which each saw 180 mph gusts on Aug. 3, 1970, during Hurricane Celia, according to the Office of the State Climatologist.

Hurricane Carla caused the highest-ever recorded maximum sustained wind on Sept. 11, 1961, in Matagorda and Port Lavaca.

Still, springtime weather can be severe and unpredictable.

“I lived in Missouri and Alabama before coming to Midland, and West Texas has definitely kept me on my toes,” Lamberson said.

The Midland, Texas, region experienced 111 mph winds and associated damage earlier this week. According to the National Weather Service, these high winds were not associated with an EF tornado. NWS meteorologists say they were caused by a relatively rare weather phenomenon called a virga bomb. What’s that?

In a statement issued by the NWS, forecasters wrote, “This gust occurred from a dry microburst associated virga bomb. Damage nearby supports the validity of this wind gust.”

There is a lot of meteorological jargon to decode in the NWS statement. A microburst is a very localized region (2.5 miles in diameter or less) of sinking air typically associated with a thunderstorm, according to a NWS website. A related phenomenon called a macroburst is similar but has a diameter greater than 2.5 miles. Meteorologists have identified several factors that, in isolation or some combination, can cause microbursts. They include:

What Are Microbursts And Virga Bombs?

The NWS website goes on to say, “Microbursts can be subdivided into three primary types — wet, dry, and hybrid. Cooling beneath the thunderstorm cloud base and sublimation are the primary forcing mechanisms with dry microbursts.” A dry microburst was relevant to the virga bomb reported in Texas. Virga is defined by the Glossary of the American Meteorological Society as, “Wisps or streaks of water or ice particles falling out of a cloud but vaporizing before reaching the earth’s surface as precipitation…. Under some conditions, virga is associated with dry microbursts, which are formed as a product of the vaporization.” In other words, the extreme burst of wind is not associated with much, if any, precipitation at the surface due to dry conditions beneath the cloud.

Wet microbursts are more common and are often associated with both entrainment of mid-level dry air and precipitation loading. Hybrid scenarios also exist. What’s interesting about these phenomena is the sudden “burst” of wind at the surface. The NWS website notes that once evaporational cooling and sinking air weakens the updraft, it becomes increasingly difficult for the hail or rain core to be suspended. The website continues, “The core plummets to the ground. As it hits the ground it spreads out in all directions. The location in which the microburst first hits the ground experiences the highest winds and greatest damage."

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Why It Matters

In my youth, I remember reading about microbursts causing significant hazards for the aviation industry. Many plane crashes were associated with wind shear associated with microbursts near airports. Such environments can force the plane downward, disrupt its ability to climb, or reduce lift on the wings, according to aviation experts. In 2022, the AMS published an essay noting the advancement of Terminal Doppler Weather Radar and other low level wind shear detection systems as a “research to operations” success story. We rarely see this type of disaster in the U.S. due to those advancements.

While the virga bomb associated with recent Texas damage was the result of 111 mph winds, there are reports of winds reaching 150 mph in some microburst cases. Microburst signatures are fairly distinctive on Doppler radar, and they usually have a clearly-defined damage pattern on the ground. It is common for people to attribute damage to tornadoes that ends up being associated with microbursts. They certainly pose a hazard to society that extends beyond your next flight.

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Early voting begins Tuesday, April 22, and there will be two items on the ballot — depending on where you live.

Midland College Bond

Elections Office, 2110 N. A St.

Centennial Library, 2503 W. Loop 250 N.

Cogdell Learning Center, 201 W. Florida Ave.

The Village at Manor Mark Margaret Cowden Clubhouse, 5212 Sinclair Ave.

United Supermarket, 3317 Midland Drive

Practically all ballots in Midland County will feature Midland College’s bond election. The college is seeking $450 million to upgrade and reconfigure the campus.

The marquee project is the construction of a $277 million advanced technology complex that will sit on about 20 acres on campus and consolidate career and technical education (CTE) offerings, such as diesel technology and welding, from the Advanced Technology Center, located on the west side of Midland, and the Cogdell Center, which sits on the east side.

The bond dollars would also go toward the construction of a new health sciences facility ($43 million), major overhauls to residence halls ($35 million), construction of a new welcome center ($30 million) and campus renewal and safety improvement projects ($64 million).

If passed, the Midland College property tax rate would rise 5.5 cents per $100 valuation. The new total would be 13.3 cents. The tax rate would be added to the category known as interest and sinking, which is used for the repayment of public debt.

One persistent question about the bond is whether royalties from proposed on-campus oil and gas drilling by Midland-Petro DC Partners make the bond unnecessary.

Midland College would receive about $40 million from the on-campus drilling operations over the course of 25 years and at an expected posted price of $75 per barrel, according to information shared with the Reporter-Telegram in January.

While it was revealed this month that the parties are very close to finalizing the deal, the amount in royalties isn’t enough to cover the college’s needs.

“This project, even if it was approved tomorrow, they wouldn’t be through with drilling and completing these wells for three to five years from now,” Board President Steven Kiser said in January. “This needs to be talked about, it needs to be addressed hand-in-glove with the bond program, but it’s also extremely separate from the bond program.”

More information about the Midland College bond election is available at www.reimaginemc.com.

Midland County Utility District Bond

For those who live in eastern and southern Midland County, outside the city limits, the Midland County Utility District is ready to build the infrastructure necessary to take about 35,000 residents off of well water.

MCUD has called a bond election in the amount of $648 million. The dollar amount is high because the water purification and delivery system is being built from scratch, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram report.

The bonds would be issued incrementally over a 10-year period and repaid over 40 years. MCUD would levy property taxes to pay for the bond.

MCUD General Manager Rodney Rhoades said the bond program is arranged this way to ease the tax burden on residents within the district, adding that a typical household’s property taxes would increase by about $170 per year.

Water pressure and water quality have been major issues within the district for a long time, Rhoades said.

“Right now, many in the district have a very low flow rate of water and not the greatest water quality coming out of those wells. MCUD is tasked with providing a safe, reliable, drinkable water supply to these residents.”

Ballot Breakdown

Midland College Proposition A

Midland County Utility District Proposition A

Key Dates

MCUD is asking voters to consider a $645,785,000 bond proposal to fund water infrastructure and related improvements.

MIDLAND, Texas — As voters head to the polls, the Midland County Utility District is asking voters to consider a $645,785,000 bond proposal on the May 3 ballot, which would fund water infrastructure and related improvements.

The bond would provide funding for the construction of a new water treatment facility, elevated storage tanks, underground transmission systems and high-service pump stations. The district said the goal is to ensure residents have access to clean, pressurized water and improved fire suppression systems.

“Water is a precious commodity in West Texas,” said Rodney Rhodes, general manager of the Midland County Utility District. “We’ve heard stories of poor water quality situations where residents are forced to truck in their own water or install costly reverse osmosis systems to make well water drinkable. This bond is about solving that.”

The district’s service area stretches from County Road 1378 to the west of Loop 250 in Midland County.

In 2013, voters approved the formation of the Midland County Utility District and a three-cent tax rate. Since then, the district has focused on designing and engineering the infrastructure needed to support a reliable water system. Now, officials say they are ready to move forward with construction if the bond passes.

Rhodes said the bond would be issued over a 10-year period, and property taxes are expected to increase slightly to repay the debt. Residents wouldn’t feel the financial impact until 2028, when the estimated cost would be around $170 per year, or roughly $14 per month, per household.

“We are looking at structuring the debt service payments to minimize the burden,” Rhodes said. “It’s an investment in the future not just for today’s infrastructure, but for future development in our community.”

Only registered voters who live within the Midland County Utility District are eligible to vote in the election.

HOUSTON, April 9 - U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab plans to increase the use of a technique that allows it to fracture subterranean rock in three wells at a time in the Permian basin, the company told Reuters, in an effort to cut the time and cost of producing oil.

Chevron's expansion of the technique, known as triple-frac, comes as the second-largest U.S. oil producer expects to continue growing output in the Permian, the biggest U.S. oilfield, even as it begins to slow spending in the basin.

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The shale oil revolution in the United States has been driven by technological advancement. The widespread deployment of hydraulic fracking, which involves drilling wells and injecting sand and water into them to fracture rock and extract oil and gas, made previously uncommercial fossil fuel deposits held in shale rock profitable in the late 2000s.

Chevron began employing triple-frac for the first time in the Permian in March last year. This year the company plans to use it on 50% to 60% of its wells in the basin, up from 20% last year, Jeff Newhook, a completions operations manager, told Reuters in an interview.

The extent of Chevron's planned deployment of the technique to new wells has not previously been reported.

Fracking three wells at once allows Chevron to complete each well and bring them to production in 25% less time, Newhook said, which translates to a 12% reduction in costs per well.

"What's really in it for us is a more efficient use of capital and a better return on our investment," he said.

Fracking two wells at once has grown in popularity as oil producers look for efficiency, but fracking three or even four at a time remains a niche strategy, said Thomas Parambil Jacob, senior vice president at consultancy Rystad Energy.

Companies that can complete wells more quickly have an advantage over competitors, particularly in shale fields, where oil production quickly decreases over time, said Hugh Daigle, an associate professor at University of Texas at Austin's department of petroleum and geosystems engineering.

Shale producers have continued to innovate over the years, learning to bend drill bits horizontally and drill longer distances. Recent innovation has added artificial intelligence to process drilling data in real time for better results.

Triple-fracking requires the same amounts of sand and water as fracking one well at a time, but uses them more quickly, meaning Chevron needs 60% more water and sand per day when using the technique, Newhook said.

That creates a logistical challenge for sand and water supply, with more than 10 trucks arriving per hour to deliver sand to the well pad.

The company has also begun fracking three wells at a time in another shale field, the Denver-Julesberg basin in Colorado, Newhook said.

Chevron uses mostly electric-powered equipment for triple-fracking, which consumes 50% more power per day than fracking one well at a time, he added.

Triple-frac also requires more capital spending upfront to have enough wells drilled in advance, Daigle said.

Chevron hit production of 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Permian in December and aims to increase output by about 10% this year, CEO Mike Wirth has said previously.

After this year, Chevron expects Permian production growth will begin to slow as the company focuses on generating free cash flow.

Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston; Editing by Simon Webb and Nia Williams

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