What weather condition can cause abnormally high Forced Outages?

Adverse weather is recognized for its potential to create situations that can lead to abnormally high forced outages. This term encompasses a range of severe weather conditions, including extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, high winds, thunderstorms, and ice storms. Each of these can physically impair the operation of electrical infrastructure.

For example, high winds can damage transmission lines and towers, while ice accumulation can add weight to structures, leading to failures. Similarly, flooding can impact substations directly, potentially causing short circuits or equipment failures. Therefore, the classification of weather conditions as "adverse" is significant because it covers all these disruptive phenomena that can challenge the reliability of power systems, particularly during their most critical moments.

The other options, such as severe storms and mild weather, while related to weather conditions, do not broadly encompass the full range of potential adverse impacts that diverse weather phenomena can impart, which is why "adverse weather" is the appropriate choice in this context. Favorable weather is typically associated with stable conditions that do not adversely affect the operation of substations, hence it cannot be linked to forced outages.