Like previous storms Ingrid and Karen, high wind shear in the deep tropics delayed Melissa's development. Operationally, Melissa was briefly upgraded to 45 mph (75 km/h) late on September 29 as some satellite estimates showed a slightly stronger storm with deeper convection, but Melissa was found to have been weaker in the post-storm analysis, remaining at 40 mph (65 km/h). By early on September 30, wind shear began to severely increase and a weakening trend began. That morning, the increased shear, combined with cooler sea surface temperatures, weakened Melissa to a tropical depression with a poorly-defined surface center as it continued to move west-northwest at a somewhat faster speed. The system lost its deep convection and by the afternoon of September 30, Melissa degenerated into a remnant low as thunderstorm activity decreased. After the circulation dissipated, the remnant low continued its general west-northwest track south of a rebuilding subtropical ridge in the central Atlantic. The low produced discontinuous amounts convection until it was absorbed by a frontal zone late on October 5 northeast of the Leeward Islands.