“THE VALENTINE BLIZZARD” of Feb. 14-15, 1940 was dubbed “one of the worst storms in 20 years.” It dumped 14 inches of snow on the town, but it was the wind gusts as high as 80 mph causing massive drifts that left cars buried on local streets and people stranded wherever they were. A thousand people, including many from Wakefield spent the night at North Station after attending a performance by skating legend Sonja Henie at Boston Garden. It wasn’t until the following morning that trains were able to leave North Station. Locally, roads were blocked except for main thoroughfares as the DPW had trouble keeping up with the heavy, drifting snowfall. In this photo, a car owned by John Rich, an employee of Palumbo’s Annex, is completely buried in front of the Albion Street liquor store. Pointing at it from the sidewalk is Andrew Palumbo, as Anthony “Legs” Fazio stands behind the car. Off in the distance, the steeple of St. Joseph Church can be seen.
