Dust devil crosses road in front of stunned Queensland family

A large dust devil has swept across a road in Queensland, with the incredible weather phenomenon shocking and entertaining a nearby family.

The young family were travelling to Bargara, near Bundaberg, when they spotted the dust devil, which they labelled a "Bundy tornado" on Facebook.

Video shows it swirling in the paddock as a car passes by, and then travelling to and over a road.

"I've never seen anything like this," a child can be heard exclaiming as the dust devil crosses.

The phenomenon was impressive but was not a tornado, Weatherzone meteorologist Graeme Brittain told 9news.com.au.

"Dust devils generally form due to thermal energy, which causes the air to rise and wind patterns can resort in these [dust devils]," he said.

They result from thermal heating and wind circulation and can cause objects to become airborne, Mr Brittain said.

Some dust devils can record wind speeds of up to 220km/h, but this one seemed to be weaker and localised, he said.

However, the dark colour of the dust devil, which appears to have picked up rich soil from a paddock, contributes to its impressive appearance.

"Was amazing to watch nature in action on a small scale," Daniel and Tamara Baldry captioned their Facebook video, which has been viewed more than 2900 times since it was posted yesterday.