An impressive dust storm at Mildura, in north-western Victoria, has turned day into night, with dramatic photos showing a huge red cloud sweeping through the area.

The storm was captured on a Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) webcam as it passed over Mildura Airport at about 5pm Wednesday.

Visibility deteriorated as a huge red cloud appeared and rolled over the airport.

Amazing pictures of tonight's dust storm in #Mildura. Here's one as it's about to hit. #duststorm

📷: Robert Klarich

Full gallery: https://t.co/58rKOxtvEg pic.twitter.com/AjeK8WnyUC

— Sunraysia Daily (@sunraysiadaily) May 7, 2019

Preston woman Lisa Guarnaccia was driving to Mildura when she got her first glimpse of the cloud.

“As I was driving through Red Cliffs I could see the sky changing a different colour and it was very windy,” Ms Guarnaccia said.

“I pulled up on the side of the road and into the service road on the other side where those grape vines were and I thought wow this is amazing.”

She continued to drive towards Mildura as conditions dramatically deteriorated.

The sky went dark and visibility plunged to just a few hundred metres.

Just a bit dusty
…#duststorm #pitchblack #dust #stillnotrain https://t.co/UjRCe6pVDN pic.twitter.com/ir8JOHTWEs

— Lower Murray Water (@LowMurWater) May 7, 2019

“It was very apocalyptic and very scary — the darkness and the wind,” she said.

“I was pretty much dodging tumbleweeds, and the branches and the palm trees were blowing, and it was cyclonic actually and very scary indeed.”

She was afraid to stop so she kept driving.

After about 20 minutes the worst of the storm passed and the sky began to get light again.

“Not that I’ve ever been in a cyclone but I should imagine that’s what it was like. Visibility was very poor,” Ms Guarnaccia said.

“I had to slow down to 40 kilometres per hour and that was on an 80kph stretch of the highway.”

On Twitter, Michael Moodie said five minutes after first seeing the red cloud, the sky was as black as night.

It’s 5 o’clock and it’s pitch black in Mildura #dustorm pic.twitter.com/gu490DARzI

— Michael Moodie (@Moodie_ag) May 7, 2019

BOM senior forecaster Dean Stewart said the strong gust front which picked up the dust extended as far south as Ouyen and Walpeup, and had wind gusts of 87kph.

He said it was possible there would be similar storms in communities including Robinvale and Hopetoun, and said such events were unusual this time of year.

“Dust storms are a lot more common during our summer months but of course it’s been very dry,” Mr Stewart said.

“So there’s still some very dry land around, and with the gusty winds it’s picked up the dust on the gust front.”

-ABC