Singapore haze: PM2.5 reading jumps to 284 in the west, enters very high band

SINGAPORE: The hourly PM2.5 reading in western Singapore surged to 284, entering the very high band at 2pm on Wednesday (Oct 14), as air quality remained unhealthy across the country.The reading in the west had earlier stood at 195, in the high band.At 2pm, hourly PM2.5 readings were in the high range in the south (159), east (195) and central (206) regions. The reading in the north was in the elevated range at 125.The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) was in the unhealthy band across all regions, ranging from 110 to 153. In its advisory on Wednesday morning, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said dry weather continued overnight across many parts of the southern Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, except northern Sumatra, Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia, where there was rain."Scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in Kalimantan and the southern parts of Sumatra, while few hotspots were detected elsewhere in the southern ASEAN region," NEA said.It added that many air quality stations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, Sumatra and western Sarawak reported unhealthy to hazardous air quality levels, but cloud cover prevented a full assessment of the smoke haze situation across parts of the region."In the coming days, dry conditions are forecast to continue over parts of the southern ASEAN region, apart from Peninsular Malaysia, and the northern and central parts of Sumatra and Borneo, where showers are expected," said NEA."While the hotspot and smoke haze situation may improve in areas experiencing showers, the situation is expected to remain elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with a continued risk of severe transboundary haze occurrence."Prevailing winds over the southern ASEAN region are expected to blow mainly from the east-southeast to south.NEA had forecast in its Tuesday haze advisory that air quality in Singapore would remain unhealthy on Wednesday.