The Midwest region experiences a diverse range of severe weather conditions throughout the year. During the warmer months, thunderstorms, heavy rain, lightning, tornadoes, and high winds pose a... Show moreThe Midwest region experiences a diverse range of severe weather conditions throughout the year. During the warmer months, thunderstorms, heavy rain, lightning, tornadoes, and high winds pose a threat, while the colder season brings ice storms, snowstorms, high winds, and sleet storms, all of which can cause significant damage to the environment, properties, transportation systems, and power grids. The average climate in the Midwest is influenced by factors such as latitude, solar input, water systems' typical positions and movements, topography, the Great Lakes, and human activities. The combination of these conditions during different seasons contributes to the development of various types of storms. Therefore, it is crucial to predict the impacts of such atmospheric events on distribution and transmission lines, enabling utilities to assess and implement preventive measures and strategies to minimize the economic losses associated with these disasters. Additionally, the accurate classification of storm modes through an automated system allows operators to study trends in relation to climate change and implement necessary strategies to ensure grid reliability and resilience.In recent years, a significant number of power outages have occurred due to extreme ice formation on transmission and distribution networks, posing a threat to the power grid's resilience and reliability. To prepare power providers for snowstorms, extensive research has been conducted on snow accretion on power lines. Over the past two decades, many scientists have turned to machine learning (ML) algorithms for predicting ice accretion on overhead conductors, as ML models demonstrate superior accuracy compared to statistical forecasting models when it comes to forecasting challenging and fine-grained problems. However, most existing models primarily focus on predicting ice formation on power lines and fail to forecast the resulting damage to the distribution network. Therefore, this project proposes a model for predicting power outages caused by snow and ice storms in the distribution network. The goal is to aid in the planning process for disaster response and ensure the resilience and reliability of the power grid. The proposed outage prediction model incorporates statistical and machine learning techniques, taking into account features related to weather conditions, storm events, and information about the power network feeders. Show less
