2018 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Maria 2018
Maria intensified rapidly after passing the Mariana Islands, then crossed the Yaeyama Islands and moved north of Taiwan. It weakened before reaching Fujian but still caused extensive disruption.
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167 mph
Jul 8, 2018 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Two periods of offshore strengthening
Maria became a named storm in early July and passed the Mariana Islands on July 4. Favorable conditions then supported rapid intensification. An eyewall replacement cycle interrupted its growth, but the typhoon strengthened again, reaching archived sustained winds of 145 knots on July 8.
Another eyewall replacement cycle and cooler water began weakening Maria before it crossed the Yaeyama Islands and passed north of Taiwan on July 10. It made landfall in Fujian early on July 11, then deteriorated inland.
Outages, evacuations and crop damage
Maria damaged crops in Okinawa Prefecture and cut power to nearly 60,000 households in Taiwan. In coastal China, at least 510,000 people evacuated. Flooding rain and gusty winds damaged thousands of homes and large areas of cropland, while schools, workplaces, flights and ferry services were disrupted. More than 320,000 customers lost power in Fujian.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Maria in brief
What was Typhoon Maria's highest wind speed?
167 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Jul 8, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Maria?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Jul 8, 2018, 03:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Maria's lowest pressure?
910 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Jul 8, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Maria occur?
The archived track runs from Jul 3, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC to Jul 13, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jul 3, 2018, 12:00 PM UTC to Jul 11, 2018, 09:00 PM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Maria form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 2018 season. Its first archived position is 10°N, 147.4°E on Jul 3, 2018, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Maria make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 98 mph on Jul 11, 2018, 03:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology