Hurricane Tomas was a moderately powerful late-season tropical cyclone which is the latest Atlantic hurricane on record in the calendar year to strike the Windward Islands. The nineteenth named storm and twelfth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, Tomas developed from a tropical wave east of the Windward Islands on October 29. Quickly intensifying into a hurricane, it moved through the Windward Islands and passed over Saint Lucia. After reaching Category 2 status on the Saffir–Simpson scale, Tomas quickly weakened to a tropical storm in the central Caribbean Sea, due to strong wind shear and dry air. Tomas later reintensified into a hurricane near the Windward passage.

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was the first of three consecutive very active Atlantic hurricane seasons, each with 19 named storms. This above average activity included 12 hurricanes, equaling the number that formed in 1969. Only the 2020 and 2005 seasons have had more, at 14 and 15 hurricanes respectively. Despite the high number of hurricanes, not one hurricane hit the United States making the season the only season with 10 or more hurricanes without a United States landfall. The overall tropical cyclone count in the Atlantic exceeded that in the West Pacific for only the second time on record. The season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates that conventionally delimit the period during each year when tropical cyclone formation is most likely. The first cyclone, Alex intensified into the first June hurricane since Allison in 1995. The month of September featured eight named storms. October featured five hurricanes, including Tomas, which became the latest on record in a calendar year to move through the Windward Islands. Activity was represented with an accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) value of 165 units, which was the eleventh highest value on record at the time. The activity in 2010 was heightened due to a very strong La Niña, which also led to an inactive Pacific hurricane season.