The Images Showing a Red Dust Storm Overtaking Australia's Coast Are Breathtaking

We've showed you the heartbreaking pictures of a family hunkered down in the water under a dock as they escaped raging wildfires in Australia earlier this week. And although the record temperatures dropped slightly, temporarily reducing the wildfire risks, a Category 3 cyclone is headed toward the country now.

Sandwiched between these two extreme weather events, Western Australia was also exposed to a haboob -- a large dust storm -- earlier this week, which resulted in stunning images of a massive, red wall of dust as it approached Onslow.

Perth Weather Live collected images of the event in an album on Facebook.

(Photo: Levi Cooper/Perth Weather Live Facebook)

(Photo: Brett Martin/Perth Weather Live Facebook)

(Photo: Levi Cooper/Perth Weather Live Facebook)

AFP/Getty captured this shot:

Source: AFP/Getty Images

According to The Western Australian, it was a thunderstorm that gathered up the dust and sand. Tugboat captain Brett Martin, who captured some of the stunning display on his cellphone, called it unlike anything he had seen before.

Here's how Martin described it to The Western Australian:

"We were steaming along in the boat just before sunset and the storm was casually building in the distance, then it got faster and faster and it went from glass to about 40 knots in two minutes," Mr Martin said yesterday.

"I've never seen anything like it, it was pretty special and it was definitely an eerie feeling."

Although people might think the earlier wildfires contributed to the dust storm's color, Perth Weather Live reported the red dust and iron ore came in from the Pilbara region.

(Photo: Lachlan Gibbins/Perth Weather Live Facebook)

Here are a couple videos of the dust storm:

According to AccuWeather, Tropical Cyclone Narelle is 300 miles northwest of the mainland as of Friday with sustained winds reaching 125 miles per hour.

The storm is currently expected to remain primarily offshore, but the mainland will still experience damaging wind and downpours over the weekend.