why a hard top in the winter?

[Chills]

Since I'm new to the whole convertible thing I was wondering why I see so many comments about having a hard top in the winter. Why? Is it because of the snow loads? Is it because of the insulation? Is it to keep the road salt off of the canvas? I don't have a hard top and I don't see why someone would buy one for the winter.

I live in a Chicago suburb and as most of you know we got a good amount of snow this year, but I've never had a problem with too much snow on my top. It can't be because of the cold outside because I've driven in -4 degree weather and the car feels fine on the inside when the heat is on. As for the road salt, well I don't drive it when there's salt out there, so I don't know about this.

So why is it deemed necessary to have a hard top for the winter?

(BTW, djomlas's picture thread got me thinking about this. He made a comment about there being snow on the ground so he'll keep his hard top on.)