The eastern Mediterranean lands of the Bible are encompassed on the east and on the south by great deserts. Barometric lows or depressions over North Africa can draw strong, dry winds off the eastern and southern deserts to blow over the land of Israel. The condition is known in Arabic as khamsin (which means fifty, from the tradition that a year has fifty days with khamsin conditions). A scientific name for the wind is sirocco (or scirocco), an Italian word that derives from the Arabic sharkiyeh, meaning east wind. The wind comes off the deserts carrying fine dust that impairs visibility, raises temperatures, and dissipates energy (see Genesis 41:6, 23, 27; Exodus 10:13; 14:21; Jeremiah 18:17; Ezekiel 17:10; 19:12; 27:26; Hosea 13:15; Jonah 4:8).
In the Book of Mormon, the east wind likewise represents destruction and ferocity: “If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction”; “they shall also be smitten with the east wind” (Mosiah 12:6).