Despite strong southwesterly vertical shear, Henri continued intensifying while moving eastward, and reached a peak strength of 60 mph (95 km/h) later on September 5. Shortly thereafter, though, the shear greatly weakened the storm, and it was downgraded to a tropical depression. Henri was not able to recover its intensity, and made landfall near Clearwater, Florida on September 6 as a 35 mph (55 km/h) tropical depression, and quickly crossed the state as it accelerated to the northeast. Despite initial predictions of re-intensification over open waters due to potentially lower shear, Henri failed to re-strengthen and degenerated into a remnant low pressure area on September 8 off the coast of North Carolina.