Haze in Singapore: Air quality improves but most regions remain in unhealthy band

The haze situation in Singapore improved overnight on October 19, with 24-hour PSI readings falling in all regions, though four out of five regions still fell in the unhealthy band. At 6am, the PSI levels were 92 in the north, 104 in the south, 107 in the east, 139 in the west, and 117 in the central region, marking a significant improvement from the previous day's readings, which ranged from 129 to 230 and were classified as unhealthy or very unhealthy.

One-hour PM2.5 readings, which measure fine particle concentrations, also remained in the normal to elevated bands, with the highest PM2.5 reading of the haze season recorded at 288 in the west on October 14. The NEA forecasted a PSI between 101 and 190 for October 19, indicating an unhealthy air quality, but factors such as rain and favorable winds may help mitigate the transport of smoke haze from Kalimantan and Sumatra.

This relative easing of the haze situation marks a contrast to the previous week, when PSI readings remained in the unhealthy or very unhealthy bands for most days, with Singapore experiencing its 15th day of unhealthy air, the longest stretch since the 2015 haze crisis.

Brief written by urgent.news from Straits Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.