yes and yes.
A performance winter (I have used Wintersport M3, Wintersport 3D, and Blizzak LM-22, personally) is FAR superior to all-seasons in snow/ice - even A/S tires that are rated highly for winter, like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (which I've owned also).
There's no comparison at all with snow/ice/slush on the roads, but the winter tires are even superior in grip by a good margin on dry roads at sub-freezing temperatures, since even dry roads have ice crystals in the cracks and don't provide the grip of dry roads above freezing. The compounds in the winter tires still grips better.
Performance winter tires, in my opinion, are better in rain and standing water than A/S tires in any season, but especially in winter when the rain may be borderline freezing and/or slush. Larger evacuation slots in the tread, siping, etc. All are superior for traction.
The nice part is that most performance winter tires are pretty comparable even in warmer weather driving to most A/S tires (aside from ultra-high-performance A/S tires, which are superior in hot/dry conditions), and they don't really wear all that much.
Like you, I'm on the Mason-Dixon vicinity (northern Va.) and only drive on snow/ice a few days per year. I put my Wintersport 3Ds on at the beginning of November and take them of mid-March usually. I'm on season 4 with the current set (on a tuned WRX that eats tires), and they're still at 70% tread! And I drive them every bit as hard as I drive my performance summer set.
Cliffs: a high-performance summer is better than an A/S in the summer. a high-performance winter is better than an A/S in the winter. The added cost is only for the 2nd set of wheels, since you're still getting the same amoutn of total tire miles using 2 sets seasonally vs 1 set. Buy some cheap wheels for winter, do the change, have the best tires for both seasons of the year.
Just my 2 cents. I'll never buy an A/S tire again for a daily driver, personally.
