chuck wrote:
Though I must seem to be coveting the dead-horse-beating trophy, have
you found an explanation of how the relatively low average currents that
charged precipitation imparts to an antenna cause static? My back of the
envelope calcs showed nanovolt-level signals at the receiver from this
current.

Someone reported being able to hear each individual large
snowflake. Could be that the amount of charge in a large
snowflake or a large piece of dust is magnitudes higher than
in a drop of rain, which I assume is the charge you are talking
about above. In any case, a very large number of particles
hitting around the same time could have a cumulative effect.
I personally have never heard P-static from rain but I think
I have seen it remembered on the bandscope on my IC-756PRO.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com