A time-dependent kinetic model is used to investigate the relative importance of various mechanisms in the early phase decay rate of the ring current. It is found that, for both the solar maximum storm of June 4--7, 1991 and especially the solar minimum storm of September 24--27, 1998, convective drift loss out the dayside magnetopause is the dominant process in removing ring current particles during the initial recovery. During the 1998 storm, dayside outflow losses outpaced charge exchange losses by a factor of ten. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union