Jim,
I've never had problems with my whisperlight in the winter, even down to -15 F and a stiff wind. Of course, I've never used it in the kind of blizard conditions you described and I'd never try to use it in a tent. For the whisperlight, I set up the windscreen before I prime and use the space inside the windscreen to strike the match or lighter. That way, the wind does not put out my ignition source. In warmer weather, I never fill the priming cup more than 1/4 but in really cold weather it may take a full priming cup to get the stove to light cheefully. The MSR stoves were cranky beasts before the shaker jets came out. Since then, I've never had a clogged jet or fuel line with white gas.