stward. It slowly developed due to poor environmental conditions and it became a tropical depression late on 31 July about east of Antigua. The depression soon strengthened further and was named Tropical Storm Chris six hours later. National Hurricane Center forecasters dismissed some computer models, which dissipated Chris quickly, as they did not have a handle on the strength of the storm. Tropical Storm Chris moved to the northwest and slowly strengthened before reaching its peak strength on August 2 with winds of , when it was to the northeast of the United States Virgin Islands. The storm was forecast to strengthen further and become a hurricane as it moved into the Bahamas and thus into the Gulf of Mexico. However, Chris began to be affected by strong wind shear and became disorganized. The storm weakened to a tropical depression on August 4, and dissipated as it approached the Cuban coast.