Alabama’s severe weather preparedness sales tax holiday is still several weeks away, but stormy weather locally and pictures and video of the destruction left behind by tornadoes in Louisiana has us thinking about it a little early.

The state of Alabama will hold its sixth severe weather preparedness sales tax holiday from Friday, Feb. 26 at 12:01 a.m.to midnight, Sunday, Feb. 26. Shoppers can purchase up to $60 of emergency supplies without having to pay tax during that weekend.

There are a lot of items covered that weekend, including batteries, ice packs, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, duct tape, battery powered flashlights, lanterns and much more. It’s a great time to stock up on items you might need when and if severe weather strikes, but many of the items are also normal household supplies.

Unfortunately, severe weather is part of life everywhere, but that’s especially true in Alabama. Weather forecasting improves by the day and meteorologists work hard to get the latest information out about severe storms, but Mother Nature can be unpredictable. It’s always better to be on the safe side and the time to prepare is this month, during the special sales tax holiday. It’s the perfect time to save a little money, while also getting prepared just in case of bad weather.