{
  "id": 15812549,
  "title": "Haze in Singapore: Air quality lies between moderate and unhealthy bands overnight",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/haze-in-singapore-air-quality-lies-between-moderate-and-unhealthy",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-20T22:09:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/haze-in-singapore-air-quality-lies-between-moderate-and-unhealthy-bands-overnight"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Singapore's air quality oscillated between moderate and unhealthy conditions overnight, following a dip in the early evening hours. By 6am on October 21, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hovered in the unhealthy range, registering 133 in the west and 117 in the central region, while the remaining areas reported readings in the moderate band: north (82), south (92) and east (97). This follows a pattern where unhealthy PSI readings were prevalent in four out of five regions for most of the evening on October 20. The PSI, representing a 24-hour average of six key pollutants, is categorized as moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101-200), or very unhealthy (above 200). The highest PSI during this haze season reached 230 at 10am on October 18, placing the air quality in the very unhealthy band. Hourly PM2.5 readings, indicators of current air quality, ranged from 34 to 81 at 6am, with the eastern and western regions recording elevated levels at 56 and 81 respectively. The highest PM2.5 reading this haze season was logged at 288 in the western part of the island at 3pm on October 14. The National Environment Agency (NEA) had warned of potential unhealthy air quality on October 21, with PSI levels expected to range from 110 to 180. Although showers were observed in parts of Singapore and neighboring areas on October 20 afternoon, residual smoke haze from Kalimantan drifted towards Singapore. While showers are anticipated over Singapore and surrounding regions on October 21, dry conditions are projected to prevail over southern Kalimantan over the following days, potentially leading to further smoke haze drifting from Kalimantan fires due to prevailing east-southerly to south-easterly winds. Singapore is now in its 17th day of unhealthy air, surpassing the 14-day stretch experienced during the 2015 haze crisis, which lasted from September 23 to October 7. The authorities have started distributing free N95 masks to vulnerable groups, including the elderly, expecting mothers, young children, and individuals with medical conditions such as asthma. These masks, which provide a tight seal and filter out 95% of fine particles between 0.1 and 0.3 micrometres, are available at all FairPrice outlets, pharmacies like Guardian, Unity and Watsons, and will be accessible at Cold Storage, Giant, and Sheng Siong outlets by the end of the week.",
  "summary": "At 6am, the 24-hour PSI in the western and central regions lie in the unhealthy range.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Straits Times",
        "title": "Cloaked in grey: The causes and effects of haze in Singapore",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/cloaked-in-grey-the-causes-and-effects-of-haze-in-singapore",
        "published": "2026-10-17T21:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Business Times - Singapore",
        "title": "Singapore appreciates efforts by Prabowo and his administration to solve haze issue: Shanmugam",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/singapore-appreciates-efforts-by-prabowo-and-his-administration-to-15592578",
        "published": "2026-10-19T09:48:57.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}