Sea, land warnings for Maria lifted

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau lifted sea and land warnings for Typhoon Maria at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday after the storm left Taiwan and made landfall in Fujian province in China.

Maria weakened in strength as it swept through northern Taiwan late Tuesday and early Wednesday and later hit China's coast and was downgraded to a tropical storm at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

As of 2 p.m., the storm was located 190 kilometers west-northwest of the outlying Matsu Islands moving at a speed of 26 kilometers per hour in a west-northwest direction, CWB data showed.

The storm was packing sustained winds of 108 kph, with gusts of up to 137 kph, as it moved inland in Fujian province, the data showed.

Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華), a senior specialist at the bureau, said Maria weakened to a tropical storm at 2 p.m. as its strength dwindled and its storm radius shrank.

But even though Taiwan was completely outside the storm's periphery, there was still the chance of heavy rain in New Taipei, Matsu, Yilan, Hualien and Keelung on Wednesday, according to the bureau.

Meanwhile, due to a low pressure system in the south, southern and southeastern Taiwan can expect intermittent showers on Thursday, Wu said.