What a difference a day makes. This morning, Chris is barely a tropical storm, as shear has affected its toll on the small cyclone. Because Chris was so small, little changes in its environment had large impacts on the structure of Chris. Shear (Figure 1) has only increased by about 5 knots, however that was enough to completely blow the system apart. The center of circulation is now completely exposed, with all the thunderstorm activity to the southeast of Chris (Figure 2). Chris has a chance to make a comeback, but only if the shear values drop, as proposed by the SHIPS model. NHC is not dissipating the storm right now for this reason, but in the discussion, it is mentioned that further weakening is expected. Stay tuned to the StormTrack for more.

Figure 1. Shear values from UW-CIMSS. Notice that shear values have only increased slightly over the past 24 hours.

Figure 2. Infrared satellite image of Chris this morning. The red "L" indicates the center of circulation, which is far away from the main area of thunderstorms, a sign that Chris is rapidly weakening.