The 2012–13 North American winter started out somewhat early, as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy brought heavy snow to the mountains of West Virginia in late October. Later, a strong nor'easter affected the weary Northeast, hampering storm recovery efforts and dropping several inches of snow. The rest of the winter featured several other notable events, such as a Christmas winter storm that affected most of the eastern part of the country, and the most notable event occurring in early February, when a powerful blizzard struck the Northeast and bringing record snow to some areas. During the winter, a weak El Nino was expected to influence weather conditions across the continent.