Hurricane Tomas
| Category 2 hurricane (SSHWS/NWS) | |
Tomas shortly after intensifying into a hurricane near Barbados on October 30
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| Formed | October 29, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Dissipated | November 11, 2010 |
| (Extratropical after November 7) | |
| Highest winds |
1-minute sustained: 100 mph (155 km/h) |
| Lowest pressure | 982 mbar (hPa); 29 inHg |
| Fatalities | 51 total |
| Damage | $741 million (2010 USD) |
| Areas affected | Windward Islands, Leeward Antilles, Greater Antilles and Lucayan Archipelago |
| Part of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season | |
Hurricane Tomas was the latest recorded tropical cyclone on a 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 very near 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 regained hurricane status as it reorganized near the Windward passage.
Throughout the hurricane's path, 71 people are known to have been killed, 14 of whom were in Saint Lucia. Monetary losses throughout the Windward Islands were estimated at US$588 million, mainly in Saint Lucia. In the wake of the storm in Haiti, flooding intensified an ongoing cholera outbreak indirectly causing more fatalities. However, direct impacts from the hurricane in Haiti were less than anticipated. Overall damage from the storm was at least $741 million.
A tropical wave, or elongated low-pressure area, exited the western coast of Africa on October 24. It moved hastily westward across the tropical Atlantic at a comparatively low latitude, becoming embedded within the Intertropical Convergence Zone. During this time the wave's structure retained a vigorous appearance; the western portion contained scattered convection, with strong thunderstorms, as well as a broad area of rotating winds. On October 27, when the system was about 1,200 miles (1,940 km) east-southeast of the Windward Islands, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted favorable atmospheric conditions for tropical cyclogenesis, namely light wind shear. The wave and its expansive convection amplified over the next two days, featuring hints of spiraling rainbands. A Hurricane Hunters aircraft investigating the disturbance on October 29 observed a developing circulation with storm-force winds at sea level. In light of those features, the NHC estimated that the system became a tropical depression by 06:00 UTC that day, about 460 mi (740 km) southeast of Barbados, and further upgraded it to Tropical Storm Tomas six hours later.
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