China renews blue alert for Typhoon Lupit

BEIJING -- China's national observatory on Wednesday renewed a blue alert for Typhoon Lupit, which is expected to bring torrential downpours and strong winds to southern parts of the country.

At 9 am Wednesday, the eye of Lupit, the ninth typhoon of the year, was over sea water some 330 km southwest of the border of Fujian and Guangdong provinces, packing winds up to 18 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement.

The typhoon, moving northeastward at a speed of 10 km per hour, is expected to make landfall on the coastal area from Lufeng of Guangdong to Jinjiang of Fujian on Thursday, the center said.

From Wednesday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, parts of Guangdong, Fujian and Taiwan will see downpours of up to 160 mm, according to the center.

China has a four-tier color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow and blue.