Brett Martin / fishwrecked.com via Reuters

A cloud formation tinged with red dust travels across the Indian Ocean near Onslow on the Western Australia coast, on Jan. 9.

Brett Martin / Perth Weather Live via AFP - Getty Images

A towering red dust storm goes over the ocean ahead of a cyclone approaching Onslow on the West Australian coast, on Jan. 9. Tug boat worker Brett Martin, who captured the fearsome pictures 25 nautical miles from the town of Onslow, reported conditions were glassy and flat before the storm hit late on January 9. But when the wild weather arrived, the swell lifted to 6 feet, winds increased to 40 knots and visibility was reduced to 328 feet.

weather.com -- Western Australians witnessed a freakish dust storm off the coast of Onslow on Wednesday.

The stunning views were created as wind and rain caused the storm to dump the sand and dust it had ingested while passing Onslow, Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Austen Watkins told Australian Yahoo!.

Tug boat worker Brett Martin, who took some photos of the storm, told Yahoo! that he and his colleagues were west of False Island when the thunderstorm, which quickly strengthened and gathered dust, passed over Onslow and headed to the Indian Ocean.

Continue reading and see more photos of the storm.

Related links:

• Rare snowstorm blankets Holy Land, brings brief joy to war-weary Damascus
• Hurricane Sandy leaves surreal scenes in its wake
• Spectacular 'cloud tsunami' rolls over Florida high-rise condos

Walt Nett / AP

Traffic moves through a dust storm which cast a brown pall over downtown Lubbock, Texas on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. A strong cold front bringing north and west winds gusting to 60 mph churned up the dust storm that roiled through the Texas South Plains.

AP reports:

LUBBOCK, Texas — Winds gusting at more than 70 mph churned up a dust storm that roiled through the Texas South Plains during the Monday afternoon commute.

Dust kicked up by westerly breezes ahead of a strong cold front restricted visibility in Lubbock to about 5 miles all afternoon, said National Weather Service Lubbock meteorologist Matt Ziebell.

That was nothing compared to the 8,000-foot-high rolling dust cloud that moved through the city just before 6 p.m., dropping visibility to between zero and less than a quarter of a mile, Ziebell said.

Read the full story here.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

A dust storm surrounds high rise buildings in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 18.

Joshua Lott / Reuters

A pedestrian crosses Central Avenue during a dust storm in Phoenix on August 18.

Matt York / AP

A dust storm hovers over Queen Creek, Ariz. Thursday, Aug. 18. The dust storm, also known as a haboob in Arabic and around Arizona, swept through Pinal County and headed northeast, reaching Phoenix at about 6 p.m. It was the third major dust storm to hit the Phoenix metro area since last month.

From AP:

PHOENIX — A giant wall of dust rolled through the Phoenix area on Thursday for the third time since early July — turning the sky brown, creating dangerous driving conditions and delaying some airline flights. Continue reading.

Rob Schumacher / The Arizona Republic via AP

A giant dust storm covers Phoenix, Ariz., late on July 5.

NBC, msnbc.com and news services report from Phoenix:

A massive dust storm descended on the Phoenix area on Tuesday night, towering over skyscrapers and grounding flights.

The wall of dust swept across the desert from the south. KSAZ-TV reported it appeared to be roughly 50 miles wide in some spots. The dust cloud briefly blanketed downtown Phoenix at around nightfall.

Thousands of people were left without power after strong winds toppled trees and flights were delayed due to the reduced visibility. Continue reading.