Lahar floods are among the main hazards originated by ice and snow melting during eruptions of glacier-clad volcanoes.
And the Western states say their snow pack is melting, jeopardizing their water supply.
The cold snap was followed by widespread flooding caused by melting snow and heavy rain.
He said the rescue was "very difficult" due to the river being swollen by melting snow.
The scientists are watching closely the effect of melting snow and rainfall leaching down from mountainous areas.
There is also a flood alert for the River Culm due to the rain and melting snow.
With melting snow and ground still frozen in places there was a risk of localised flooding, it added.
The Met Office warned that melting snow may have frozen overnight, turning to ice on pavements and roads.
For instance, the melting snow pack in the Sierras could reduce the water supply for cities and agriculture.
Flood defences have been put up in Worcestershire as melting snow and heavy rain raise the river levels.
BBC: Worcestershire flood barriers put up as river levels rise
Their delicate texture alone is enough to make a hunter strap on his boots at the first trickle of melting snow.
Over the weekend numerous roads across the island were closed due to flooding caused by heavy rain and melting snow.
Staffordshire County Council said the floods, caused by melting snow and rain, had washed away a temporary dam it had built.
Local councillor Wyn Evans told the BBC melting snow and torrential rain had caused "severe flooding and destruction" in the area.
BBC: Flood fears as snow turns to rain and temperatures rise
Also, experts worried melting snow in Minnesota would send more water south.
The Environment Agency has advised motorists to take care as it continues to monitor rising river levels affected by melting snow and ice.
Flood watches the result of heavy rain and melting snow were in effect through Friday for much of the central and southern Lower Peninsula.
The Environment Agency says rain and melting snow are expected to lead to rising water levels in rivers in south-west England and has three flood warnings in place.
But the Briton's chances were scuppered when the 13th stage of the day was cancelled because of the treacherous conditions of the track as a result of melting snow.
The flow in the Mekong comes mainly from rainfall and some snow melt, not melting ice.
In the high altiplano, poor peasants depend for much of their water on the slow melting of snow.
Scientists say these particles disturb the monsoon system and exacerbate the melting of snow and ice in the Himalayas.
Interestingly, the hikes take place at night to avoid possible avalanches caused by the sun melting the snow on the glaciers.
All of London's airports were open and reported only a small number of cancellations Tuesday as the sun came out and started melting away the snow and ice.
In Moscow, the enterprise of scraping the snow off the streets and pavements, forming it into snow hillocks, carting it off in 6, 000-odd snow vehicles for dumping or melting, and finally zapping it with chemicals to speed the thaw is vast and costly (which helps to explain why Yuri Luzhkov, the city's mayor, threatened last year to fine meteorologists who make wrong forecasts).
ECONOMIST: What the snows of Moscow reveal about modern Russia
The fear is that melting ice, along with increased snow and rain, could reduce the density and salinity of the top layers of the sea, making them more buoyant.
During the dry period, a large part of the energy supplied by radiation is used to sublimate snow or ice and therefore, energy available for melting is low, which leads to low melt rates.
According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice is melting faster than its average over the 1979 t0 2000 period.
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Under stable climatic conditions, the ice lost through melting is replenished by winter precipitation in the form of snow.
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