 During the same timeframe Bruce began to curve around the western periphery of a nearby subtropical ridge, redirecting the cyclone's path towards the south.On December 23, the cyclone's eye finally succumbed to cooling sea surface temperatures and Bruce was downgraded to a low-end tropical cyclone by Météo-France.By the end of the day, Bruce was downgraded further to severe tropical storm intensity as the bulk of convection began to shear away from the low-level circulation center.