Residents in Hokkaido, Japan became stuck in their homes after a record-breaking 4 feet of snow fell in the region in just 12 hours on 4. Air travel was severely disrupted, over 370 schools were closed and dozens of drivers were stranded in the winter storm.

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.