The climate of Dominica is mildly tropical; in the winter months the temperature averages 25°C (77° F); in the summer, 28°C (82° F). The spring months are the driest; the heaviest rains fall during late summer. The average yearly rainfall ranges from about 191 cm (75 in) on the drier Caribbean coast to 508 cm (200 in) in mountainous inland areas. Destructive hurricanes coming in from the Atlantic Ocean can be expected during the late summer months.

In regard to hurricanes, Dominica is vulnerable to these destructive storms as the island is in what is known as the hurricane region. In 1979, Dominica was hit directly by category 5 Hurricane David, causing widespread and extreme damage. On August 17, 2007, Hurricane Dean, a category 1 at the time, hit the island. A mother and her seven-year-old son died when a landslide caused by the heavy rains fell onto their house. In another incident two people were injured when a tree fell on their house. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit estimated that 100 to 125 homes were damaged, and that the agriculture sector was extensively damaged, in particular the banana crop.