Tom Donaly wrote:
Grounding might make it worse. Can you see why?

Quoting the 2000 ARRL Handbook: "Electrical fields under
thunderstorms are sufficient to place many objects such
as trees, hair, and antennas, into corona discharge."

Of course, corona discharge exists and grounding an antenna
might make it worse. But corona discharge is not all that
exists.

And in the absence of clouds, corona discharge is not
likely to exist. Some other mechanism is obviously
responsible for clear-sky charged-particle static.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp