A new model was developed to predict snowmelt and runoff in mountainous areas prone to flooding. The model, tested in China's Juntanghu watershed, showed that a balanced energy approach produced better results than a temperature-based method. The balanced model had higher accuracy in monthly simulations, while both methods performed similarly on a daily scale. The simpler temperature-based method can work well if parameters are set correctly, but the balanced model is more reliable when accurate data is available, especially for extreme weather conditions. Overall, the balanced energy model showed high efficiency in simulating snowmelt processes, making it a good choice for modeling in challenging environments.