@anne_twain @clive having bike commuted in the lake effect snow area, proper snow clearing on roads and bike lanes is really important for winter cycling. Unfortunately a lot of places plow the snow onto bike lanes, crosswalk entrances and sometimes even sidewalks which is a big problem for cyclists, pedestrians and wheelchair users. I switched to walking or car on bad snow and ice days because the city's plows were careless.

For rain, capes/ponchos are a good design since they tend to shelter your legs too. Good fenders are critical for a commuting bike in my opinion. In Rochester I usually had some kind of outerwear that would stop unexpected rain from soaking all the way through in the time it took to get home, but without fenders I would've had street water splashed all up my back. I'd learned that the hard way as a kid, so I added fenders to my commuting bike as soon as I got it.