Air quality in central Singapore at unhealthy levels amid haze
The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for the eastern and western regions also entered the unhealthy band on Sunday (Sep 20) morning, although they later returned to moderate range.
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SINGAPORE: Air quality in Singapore's eastern and western regions entered the unhealthy range on Sunday (Sep 20) morning, joining the central region, which had recorded unhealthy readings since a day earlier.
The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 105 in the west and 102 in the east at 6am, while the central region hit 123.
The east, however, returned to the moderate range with a reading of 99 at 10am and fell to 87 three hours later. The west also dipped back into the moderate band at 1pm, with a reading of 97.
As of 6pm, the central region has a reading of 102.
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Two races scheduled for Sunday morning, Yellow Ribbon Run at The Kallang and Race Against Cancer at East Coast Park, went ahead as planned.
Organisers shared updates, videos and photos from the events on their respective social media pages.
"The hourly PM2.5 readings from 6am to 10am this morning were within Band 1 (normal) for the central and south regions," said the Yellow Ribbon Run organising committee, adding that in view of this and based on National Environment Agency (NEA) guidelines, it was deemed safe to proceed with the event.
PSI readings have dipped in and out of the unhealthy range over the past weeks.
All five regions of Singapore recorded unhealthy air quality levels on Tuesday - the first time this has happened since September 2019.
NEA said on Sunday morning it had observed dry weather over many parts of southern Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region overnight, except for some showers over the northern parts of peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra.
"Scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in Kalimantan, and the southern and central parts of Sumatra," the agency said, adding that few hotspots were detected elsewhere in the southern ASEAN region.
It noted that moderate to dense transboundary haze was observed over parts of Kalimantan, Sarawak, south and central Sumatra as well as the southern parts of peninsular Malaysia.
The full extent of the hotspot and haze situation could not be determined due to cloud cover, but many air quality stations in Borneo recorded unhealthy to hazardous levels, while unhealthy levels were detected among some air quality stations located in south and central Sumatra, as well as southern parts of peninsular Malaysia.
In its daily advisory on Sunday, NEA forecast the 24-hour PSI to be in the low moderate to unhealthy range.
It said that dry conditions are expected to persist in southern Sumatra and southwestern Kalimantan. There is also a risk of haze affecting Singapore due to the prevailing winds forecast to blow from the southeast.
The agency added that moderate to dense smoke plumes continued to be observed from fires in Kalimantan and southern and central Sumatra, while haze from Sumatra was observed drifting towards Singapore.
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