Nothing Like the Smell of Fresh Smoke Blowing Back into Your House in the Morning

Got up around 8:30 this morning, started a fire about 15 minutes later. About 15 minutes after that, door temps were around 450* and smoke started POURING back into the house from the stove. We got about 5" of snow overnight and temp was 28*. When the smoke started, temps had dropped to 22* in less than 30 minutes, wind gusts already of 25 mph and it looked like a blizzard as winds were picking snow up off the ground and making it a white-out. When the smoke started, stove temps dropped back to about 375* in less than a minute. Wife turned exhaust fan on over oven to try to get rid of smoke that was enough to choke you. Kept trying to get temp up on stove so it would help alleviate the downdraft effect. It took nearly an hour to get the temps up to 600* and we got to eat more smoke until then. Seems like the wind has died down some now and smoking has quit. Our wind normally comes from the west but this morning, it was coming from the north which just happens to be the same side of the house the chimney is on.

Any suggestions on what to do in these rare occasions when this happens? I tried shutting down damper by about 25% while temp was building up to try and reduce smoke downdraft. Thought maybe if I could get fire hot quick, could close damper on down and reduce smoke. It was so bad, smoke was pouring thru fresh air slides on bottom of doors and you could barely see the stove.

Just to update...after posting, winds have calmed down and we haven't gotten smoke anymore. The lower level of this old house was built in the late 1890's. We have tried to insulate, but when the wind blows, there are more leaks than a screen door on a submarine. Been working on that, but it isn't easy. The main problem is trying to insulate the floor, as there is a limited amount of crawlspace and joists range from 10" - 26" apart. I understand what you are talking about with negative pressures, but with the direction and how strong the wind was blowing, I don't know if anything could have been done. When all this took place, fire was burning well and there wasn't really any smoke in stove. When the wind blew back down chimney, it's like it rapidly smothered and cooled the firebox. We typically never have problems with drafting, even from a stove that has been out for 12+ hours.