Must concur with Mr. Tyson here. One of the first phrases I learned from Texas when I first moved down here in the middle of winter back in '77 - blue norther. Just as Ian said - a cold, cold wind; might come with sleet or snow, but likely as not - just plain bad-assed cold.

See, I'd never heard of a blue norther growing up in Michigan because it was usually cold as hell most of the time; and yes, I do miss a lot of things about Michigan (fortunately I do get up there on a semi-regular basis)including the cold weather, and the lakes, and the family and the RED WINGS! GO RED WINGS! Cheers.