PSI hits 104 in eastern Singapore; 2 areas now with ‘unhealthy’ air quality

SINGAPORE - The air quality in eastern Singapore reached unhealthy levels on the evening of Sept 4, with a reading of 102 on the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) as at 9pm.

This comes after the central region recorded a reading of 101 at 7am on the same day.

As at 9pm, the PSI reading of central region is 120, while the PSI readings in the north (86), south (85) and west (97) remain in the moderate range.

Air quality is considered unhealthy when the PSI is in the range of 101 to 200, during which NEA advises the public to cut down on outdoor activities.

The last time the PSI hit unhealthy levels due to haze was in October 2023.

In a media statement issued at around noon on Sept 4, the Haze Task Force announced a number of contingency measures hit “very unhealthy” levels, or a PSI reading that exceeds 200.

These include making available air-conditioned rooms in all community centres and selected residents’ committe centres, for people to seek respite from the bad air.

In a weather advisory on Sept 1, the Meteorological Service Singapore said Singapore may experience hazy conditions in the next two weeks as dry weather is set to continue in the surrounding region into the first fortnight of September, despite sporadic showers expected in the second week.

With the prevailing dry conditions, there has been an escalation in the hot spot and smoke haze situation in the surrounding region, it added. Dense smoke haze was observed over southern and central Sumatra and various parts of Kalimantan on most days from around Aug 21.

This follows weeks of forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in Indonesia, fuelled by a super El Nino weather phenomenon.