Although Utor tracked back over water on December 10, the storm began to weaken due to increasing wind shear and dry air from the west. As a result, the JMA downgraded Utor to severe tropical storm intensity upon its emergence into the South China Sea. Despite these hindering conditions, the storm's improved outflow was sufficient enough to enable redevelopment. At 18:00 UTC on December 11, the JMA once again upgraded the system to typhoon strength southeast of Hainan. Intensification continued until Utor peaked with winds of 155 km/h (100 mph) and a minimum pressure of 945 mbar (hPa; 27.91 inHg) the next day. This strength was held for only twelve hours before Utor's outflow began to succumb to the wind shear and dry air stemming from the monsoonal flow it had previously suppressed. Traveling in a tight clockwise loop, the typhoon rapidly weakened on December 13; by the following day Utor was a minimal tropical storm. At 06:00 UTC on December 14, the storm degenerated into a tropical depression and continued to execute a small anticyclonic loop before dissipating on December 15.