In reply to Nigel Dyer's message of Mon, 12 Nov 2012 22:09:36 +0000: Hi, [snip] >Gamma rays are detected associated with a number of different aspects of >thunderstorms. As far 'conventional' lightning is concerned it seems to >be associated with initiation of the forks in the forked leader en route >to the ground in advance of the (visible) return stroke when the large >currents flow > >Nigel
Perhaps the gamma rays locally ionize the surrounding otherwise insulating atmosphere making it possible for the current to take an alternate path? Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
