The skies of Shark Bay in Western Australia turned an eerie blood red before Tropical Cyclone Narelle made landfall, a phenomenon an expert said was caused by an iron-infused dust storm.

Narelle crossed into WA on Friday, hitting the state roughly 900km north of Perth in the food bowl region.

Video filmed at Shark Bay Caravan Park in Denham on Friday and shared via social media showed a dust storm had engulfed the town, colouring the sky a deep red.

Jessica Lingard from the Bureau of Meteorology said high winds and the area’s rust-red, iron-rich soils created the spectacle. Pilbara, the centre of Australia’s iron-ore industry, is less than 400km to Denham’s north east.

“Narelle just whipped, picking up the dust from the landscape and pushing it through places like Shark Bay ahead of the cyclone,” she said.

Lingard explained the footage benefited from the perfect combination of factors: “Strong winds, dry ground and photographers in the right place to experience it all.”

Onslow in the north-west corner of Western Australia experienced a similar phenomenon in January when inland thunderstorms generated strong winds that pushed red dust all the way to the coastline, she said.

Narelle made history by becoming the first storm system in over 20 years to make landfall in three of Australia’s states and territories.