A low pressure trough passed across the area and whipped up strong winds around 7.40pm, Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Fevesque said.

"If it's dry it picks up the dust," he said.

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"The trough was moving from west to east."

Dubbo resident Judith Jones was among those who witnessed the storm.

"It was the mother of all dust storms," she said.

"It rolled over the top of us like a big ocean wave [and] turned day into night. But she will be alright mate."

Michael Harrod said it reminded him of a hurricane.

"That was unreal, I've never seen it roll in that quickly before," he said.

Bureau of Meteorology data recorded very strong winds in many places on Sunday evening, with gusts reaching up to 107km/h in Dubbo at 7.41pm, while Parkes had gusts up to 95km/h.

In Forbes winds peaked at 83km/h and in Cowra they reached 61km/h.

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Overnight 34.8 millimetres of rain was recorded in Cowra, Forbes received 11.8mm, while Dubbo had 2.2mmm, Parkes had 4.0mm and Young received 2.0mm.

Mr Levesque said dust storms were difficult to forecast, but "dry and windy weather are the two main ingredients".

"In droughts the moisture is less available and it increases the likelihood of a dust storm," he said.

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