A risk model for design of transmission line systems against thunderstorm downburst winds

Abstract In this paper we describe a probabilistic model for the design of transmission line systems for local high-intensity winds of the downburst type, usually associated with thunderstorms. The downburst damage ‘footprint’ has been assumed to be roughly rectangular in shape, and the transmission line as a line ‘target’. With a number of other assumptions, a practical model for estimating the risk of a strike of damaging downburst on a line of specified length and orientation has been developed, and applied to high-voltage lines in Australia.