Weather officials in Japan are urging people in the Okinawa region to be on alert for high waves as Typhoon Kong-rey approaches.

Japan Meteorological Agency officials say the storm will change to a low pressure system and track eastward, likely bringing heavy rain to western Japan from Friday to Saturday and to eastern Japan from Saturday to Sunday. Thunderstorms are predicted in some areas.

The agency said the typhoon is traveling north through Taiwan. Winds are intensifying and waves are getting higher in the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, which is close to the typhoon.

Kong-rey will likely move to the East China Sea, change to an extratropical low pressure system on Saturday and travel eastward through Sunday, accompanying a front.

Warm, moist air is flowing toward the low pressure system and the front, making the atmospheric conditions unstable in western and eastern Japan.

Northern Kyushu is expected to get as much as 100 millimeters of rain over the 24 hours through Friday evening. In the 24 hours through Saturday evening, as much as 200 millimeters of rain is predicted in northern Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture, 120 millimeters in Kanto-Koshin, Tokai, Kinki and Chugoku regions, and 80 millimeters in Hokuriku. More rain is expected through Sunday in eastern Japan.

Weather officials are urging caution over landslides, flooding in low-lying areas as well as swollen and overflowing rivers.