Haze in Singapore persists; PSI remains unhealthy for all regions
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- Singapore’s haze stayed overnight, with the 24-hour PSI unhealthy in all regions.
- NEA said smoke from fires in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra was drifting to Singapore under south-easterly winds. Dry conditions there may keep the haze going.
- The haze task force announced measures on Oct 9 if PSI rises above 200. This follows 2026 peaks of 192 PSI in the central region and PM2.5 at 171 in the west.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Hazy conditions across Singapore remained throughout the day, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for all regions staying within the unhealthy range.
At 8pm on Oct 13, the highest 24-hour PSI reading was recorded in the west at 159, followed by the central region (152), the east (147), the south (126) and the north (110).
Air quality is considered unhealthy when the PSI – a 24-hour rolling average of six key air pollutants – is in the range of 101 to 200.
The hourly PM2.5 readings – measured in micrograms per cubic m and used as a gauge for current air quality – were in the elevated zone in all regions at 8pm: east (86), central (88), west (99), south (72) and north (60).
Since morning, one-hour PM2.5 readings in the west, central and east have not moved out of the elevated band.
PM2.5 scores from 0 to 55 represent normal values, those between 56 and 150 indicate an elevated concentration of fine particles, while those between 151 and 250 are considered high.
In its daily haze advisory in the evening of Oct 13, the National Environment Agency (NEA) forecast the 24-hour PSI for Singapore to be in the unhealthy range.
It said: “Moderate to dense smoke plumes were observed from fires in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra. Smoke haze was observed drifting towards Singapore under the prevailing south-easterly winds.”
While some showers are expected over Singapore and parts of the surrounding region, dry conditions are forecast to persist over parts of southern Sumatra and Kalimantan, NEA said.
For the first time since October 2023, air quality in Singapore breached unhealthy levels on Sept 4. The NEA started issuing daily haze advisories since the evening of that day.
The PSI reached a peak for 2026 on Oct 9, reaching 192 in the central region between 5pm and 8pm.
Similarly, the highest hourly PM2.5 reading to date in 2026 – 171 – was recorded in the west at 2am that same day.
The haze task force announced on the evening of Oct 9 that, among other measures, it will distribute N95 masks to eligible Singaporeans when air quality hits “very unhealthy” levels.
Such levels are denoted by a PSI reading of between 201 and 300.
