I'm now thinking about rain in a completely different way than I have done in the past. For me now, rain is a 'stand alone' problem, little or nothing to do with other weathers. I have concluded by my experience with Poncho and rain skirts, that it is possible to buy effectively and cheap, to solve the rain problem, without having to spend big money!
I can now buy any clothing that I may want and like, without even having to consider whether its waterproof or not. Its too late in the day for me though, I have already spent out on an expensive waterproof jacket so I hope that my experience, especially if you are planning to buy new gear thinking as they say, outside of the box, can save you a packet!. If you have the money and want to spend big that's fine, but I know that there is an alternative way of looking at the matter.
I have now bought a £15 long waterproof Champion single skin coat with a hood. The hood is really clever, I can secure it in three different ways depending on how bad the downpour is. I tried it out in real rain yesterday, it was bucketing down and very windy as well, the coat worked just as I wanted it to. Underneath my waterproof, I just wore my shirt and warm jacket and that was it.
To work properly (that is to be dry and to stay dry) I have to use my gaiters, which I would use when wet anyway. The principle is like the tiles on a roof, rain on the coat, drips onto the gaiters and then onto the floor.
My cheap coat is not perfect, unfortunately in my case the hem should be about 2" longer to ensure that even in wind the hem does not rise up above the tops of my gaiters. I can fix that, a friend can sew on a extended hem for me, or I can weight the hem, or both. I'll be ready with it by the April meet.