Fair question. I'll give an extreme example and claim that the same considerations apply to some extent down from severe weather down to merely uncomfortable.

I think it was 2011 or 2012, the area was hit with a severe winter storm - some snow but more seriously a lot of ice coming down very quickly. I drove home in an older car. Drivers were either too cautious to even move or else driving insanely. Slicing through red lights, bullying other drivers, many out of control sliding sideways, backwards, spinning. Stalls and crashes had blocked certain routes completely. Ice would blanket my windshield within a minute and it was a struggle to clear it enough to see safely. The heater wasn't working that great either, and the vehicle threatening to overheat. The trip home took over three hours. As I recall, it was unsafe, uncertain and miserable.

A few years later we had another, similar weather event. Evidently worse, because thousands of cars never made it home at all and were stranded for days. This time I'd wised up and taken the bike, dressed warmly enough that I wasn't especially uncomfortable other than a couple of challenges in route. I think the trip took about 45 minutes, something less than an hour for sure. I stayed out of traffic, no concern at all about that because the traffic I did encounter was stopped or barely moving. It was faster, safer, less painful and far less aggravating on the bike.