S’pore Haze Situation Improves On 8 Oct, Clear Skies Likely To Continue On Monday

S’pore Haze Improves As It Moves Into Moderate Range On 8 Oct

On Saturday (7 Oct), the haze hit the Unhealthy range in Singapore, prompting fears that we would have worse days ahead.

Thankfully, however, the haze situation improved on Sunday (8 Oct), with clear skies seen across the island.

Better still, the haze will be less likely on Monday (9 Oct) due to the prevailing winds and rain expected.

8 Oct haze improves to Moderate range

In a haze update on Sunday (8 Oct), the National Environment Agency (NEA) said the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was in the Moderate range as of 6pm.

This improved air quality continued into the night, with all parts of the island recording Moderate PSI as of 11pm.

Areas with the poorest air quality were East and Central Singapore, with PSI values of 73 — a far cry from the over-100 values recorded the day before.

Any PSI value from 51 to 100 is considered “Moderate”.

As the haze cleared, Singaporeans duly shared photos of blue skies with clouds on social media.

68 hotspots detected in Sumatra

NEA said a total of 68 hotspots were detected on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island on Sunday, mostly over the southern and central areas.

This was a significant decrease from the 188 hotspots detected on Saturday (7 Oct) and about a third of the 211 found on Friday (6 Oct).

According to satellite imagery, prevailing winds are blowing moderate to dense smoke haze over central and southern Sumatra towards the northwest.

Haze less likely on 9 Oct

As for Monday (9 Oct), the haze situation is forecast to improve even further, NEA said.

That’s because the prevailing winds will blow mainly from the east.

This lowers the likelihood of transboundary haze affecting Singapore, NEA added.

Showers, which are expected over Singapore and the surrounding region, should also help.

For the 24 hours from 6pm on Sunday, Singapore’s 24-hour PSI will continue to lie in the Moderate range, NEA predicted.

Risk of haze in Southeast Asia still elevated

While it’s good news that the haze situation will improve, overall dry conditions persist over Southeast Asia, especially in the South, NEA said.

Thus, the risk of transboundary smoke haze remains elevated, especially over Sumatra and Kalimantan.

So it’s still advisable to check the 1-hr PM2.5 concentration readings, 24-hr PSI forecast and corresponding health advisories at haze.gov.sg if you’re planning outdoor activities.

Here’s hoping the threat of haze will go away sooner rather than later.

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Featured image adapted from Helen Koh on Facebook.