page_title: Typhoon Maria (2018)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Maria (2018) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Typhoon Maria over the Yaeyama Islands and approaching Taiwan on July 10, 2018, undergoing another eyewall replacement cycle.
context_page_description: Typhoon Maria, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Gardo, was a powerful tropical cyclone that affected Guam, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, and East China in early July 2018. Developing into the eighth named tropical storm of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season and passing the Mariana Islands on July 4, Maria strengthened into the fourth typhoon of the season and underwent rapid intensification the next day amid favorable environmental conditions. The typhoon reached its first peak intensity on July 6; subsequently, Maria weakened due to an eyewall replacement cycle, but it reintensified and reached a second, stronger peak intensity on July 9 with 10-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h and a minimum pressure of 915 hPa. Over the next three days, it started to gradually weaken due to another eyewall replacement cycle and decreasing sea surface temperatures. After crossing the Yaeyama Islands and passing north of Taiwan on July 10, Maria ultimately made landfall over Fujian, China, early on July 11, before dissipating the next day.
context_section_description: On July 3, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) declared that a tropical depression had formed at 00:00 UTC about 500 km (310 mi) southeast of Guam. The broad system tracked northwest around a region of high atmospheric pressure to its north as it began to consolidate, with the United States-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) also determining that the system had become a tropical depression at 12:00 UTC. Amid rather favorable environmental conditions encompassing high sea surface temperatures of 30–31 °C (86–88 °F), low to moderate wind shear, and wind patterns in the upper troposphere aiding the development of thunderstorms, the system intensified modestly, with the JTWC assessing that it became a tropical storm at 00:00 UTC on July 4. The JMA also stated that the depression had become a tropical storm 12 hours later and named the system Maria. On July 5, Maria began to rapidly intensify as it developed an eye feature. The satellite presentation of the cyclone improved drastically over the next 24 hours, with the eye contracting to a diameter of 20 km (13 mi). The JTWC assessed that Maria became a super typhoon at 00:00 UTC on July 6, possessing maximum sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph). Immediately after, Maria began to undergo an eyewall replacement cycle, with microwave satellite imagery revealing that a new eyewall had developed and encircled the original eyewall. The JMA, however, assessed that Maria continued to strengthen to reach an initial peak intensity at 12:00 UTC with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a central pressure of 925 hPa (mbar; 27.32 inHg).
  Some weakening took place on July 7 as Maria went through the eyewall replacement cycle, with the JTWC assessing that Maria had dropped below super typhoon strength. A developing high-pressure area to Maria's northwest caused the system's forward motion to decrease while the inner eyewall dissipated and the outer eyewall began to contract. However, Maria did not immediately restrengthen as upper-level wind patterns temporarily became unfavorable. More substantial reintensification occurred on July 8 as Maria began to accelerate northwest once again and the system regained super typhoon strength at 00:00 UTC. The JTWC judged Maria to have reached its peak intensity at 12:00 UTC on July 8 with winds of 270 km/h (165 mph), equivalent to Category 5 status on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Displaying a well-defined eye 37 km (23 mi) wide, the system maintained an impressive satellite presentation into July 9, when the JMA estimated Maria reached peak intensity with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a minimum pressure of 915 hPa (mbar; 27.02 inHg).
  Late on July 9, Maria developed concentric eyewalls once again, indicating another eyewall replacement cycle was underway. Combined with decreasing upper oceanic heat content along the cyclone's path, Maria began to weaken steadily as it turned to the west-northwest. At 21:00 UTC on July 9, Maria entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility and received the local name Gardo. As the system passed north of Taiwan on July 10, frictional effects with the island's mountains as well as increasing northerly wind shear further weakened the cyclone. At 01:10 UTC on July 11, Maria made landfall over the Huangqi Peninsula of Lianjiang County, Fuzhou in Fujian, China. At the time, the system possessed 10-minute sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph) and 1-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). Rapid weakening took place once Maria moved inland, with the storm degrading to a tropical depression by 18:00 UTC. The remnant system continued inland and dissipated over Hubei before 00:00 UTC on July 13.
caption: Typhoon Maria approaching Eastern China on July 10
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