A massive dust storm has turned day into night in the small town of Bedourie in Queensland's south-western corner.

Bedourie borders the Simpson Desert and the town's name actually means "dust storm" in the local Indigenous language.

Bedourie resident Maggie den Ronden said she had never seen anything like it, with dust turning the town dark for about 90 minutes.

She said clouds of dust appeared on the horizon and quickly engulfed the town.

"Taking up kilometres, it was enormous - the whole town was shrouded in orange, reddy, sandy colour," she said.

A massive dust storm sweeps toward Bedourie in a line across the parched outback. ( Supplied: Maggie den Ronden )

"It had gone from brilliant daylight to just, you couldn't see to the end of the street.

"It was quite amazing and we had that for about an hour and a half."

Graziers in parts of the Diamantina Shire around Birdsville have reported other dust storms in recent weeks, the problem exacerbated by the lack of grass cover due to the ongoing drought.

The approaching dust storm stretched toward the horizon. ( Supplied: Maggie den Ronden )

Doug Cooms from the Bedourie Roadhouse said he had not seen anything like it for years.

"It just basically turned day into night," he said.

"Unfortunately there was no rain behind it.

"We had a lot of wind, a lot of sand blasting. But all good in the end - no-one got hurt.

"It gets in your eyes, in your mouth.

"I am just standing in our restaurant and there is dust everywhere."