Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.Without the images, it might be hard to wrap your mind around the amount of snow blanketing the island of Hokkaido in northern Japan.

You've heard of lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes. Check out what a larger sea and bitter cold air helped to generate in parts of Japan.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, 47 inches of snowfall occurred during a 12-hour period on Monday in Obihiro, with blizzard conditions likely across northeast parts of the country. The agency warned residents to be on guard for heavy snow,