As a Minnesotan I'm a little disquieted that anyone would think that "average winter days" exist, at least in anything approaching a measurable sense. Maybe if you're just talking about raw temperatures.
Water is the base unit because it's the building block of the universe. The number of lifeforms that don't depend on water as a critial element of life is either zero or so close to zero that you might as well round down. Plus it's abundant and we can measure it's properties in repeatable experiments easily.
I'd look up the appropriate Asimov essay and quote passages, but the book's in my attic at the moment. A shame, really.
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