In Israel, from mid-June until mid-September, the skies are generally clear, with the exception of dust clouds, which appear especially toward the end of the dry season, because of the hot E wind from the desert. Also, particularly in August, there are occasional cirrostratus clouds from the W that do not bring rain. Even these are welcomed by the inhabitants, for they afford some shadow and thus slight relief from the heat. (Isa 25:5; compare Job 7:2.) In September or October clouds begin to appear more frequently on the western horizon, forming over the Mediterranean, although it is often mid-October before the rainy season really begins. But during the summer there is, in some sections of the country, a mist cloud in the mornings that vanishes soon with the rising of the sun.​—Ho 6:4.

Transitoriness, unreliableness. The misty morning clouds that quickly vanish away are used figuratively for the fickle, short-lived loving-kindness of Ephraim and Judah toward God, as well as for the short-livedness Ephraim would experience for turning to false worship.​—Ho 6:4; 13:3.