 Upon becoming a tropical storm , Chris attained its peak intensity with winds of 40 mph ( 65 km / h ) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1 @,@ 008 mbar ( 29 @.@ 8 inHg ) . Because wind shear was believed to be weak , further intensification seemed very likely . Unexpectedly , Chris weakened back to a tropical depression by 1800 UTC on August 18 , after having been a tropical storm for only six hours . However , the National Hurricane Center operationally held Chris at tropical storm intensity until early on the following day . Convection was nearly non @-@ existent early on August 19 , though there were a few small bursts in convection . Later that day , a reconnaissance aircraft flight into the storm found no circulation , while a QuikSCAT pass indicated an open wave . As a result , Chris dissipated while east of the northernmost Leeward Islands at 1200 UTC on August 19 . 
