Japan's Himawari-8 satellite gave us a glimpse of the future over the weekend when in captured this amazing satellite loop of Super Typhoon Noul as it approached the northern Philippines.

(MORE: Noul Forecast)

This partial portion of an animation, provided by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin, is a compilation of multiple images taken every two and a half minutes at a resolution of about one-third of a mile. According to hurricane specialist Michael Lowry of The Weather Channel, the high-level detail captured by the Himawari-8 satellite is twice what our satellites in the Atlantic are capable of showing. However, that's going to change soon.

Lowry says that when the new GOES-R satellite is launched early next year, the imagery we'll be able to see of hurricanes and other storms in the Atlantic will have similar detail. The Himawari-8 satellite was launched in October and put into service this spring. 

At the time the animation was captured, Super Typhoon Noul was rapidly intensifying with top winds increasing to 160 mph as it approached the northern Philippines. Noul made landfall on the northeastern tip of Luzon Island in the Philippines late Sunday, local time.

(MORE: Two Killed by Noul in the Philippines)

Below are some more images from Noul when it was near peak intensity over the weekend.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Images of Hurricanes From Space