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.

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,

Record-breaking snowfall fell on Japan ‘s northern main island of Hokkaido, disrupting traffic, causing airport closures and delaying deliveries on Tuesday. The Hokkaido prefectural government said record-breaking snowfall has been observed especially in the eastern regions of the island,