Simulating wet snow loads on power line cables by a simple model

A wet snow event in the northwest part of Germany caused extensive damage to electric power lines in November 2005. Maximum wet snow loads of approximately 50 Nm−1 were estimated by evaluating the snow deposit diameter from photographs and the snow density from meteorological data. A simple wet snow accretion model was applied to reconstruct the snow accretion process. The maximum wet snow loads estimated by the model are in good agreement with the observations when the model input parameter, visibility, was adjusted by a constant factor for night-time observations. The improved wet snow accretion model was also applied to historical weather data for the area demonstrating the power and weaknesses of the extreme value analysis of wet snow events.