Hazy conditions move into the Moderate range in the early hours of Saturday

SINGAPORE — The hazy conditions in Singapore continued to improve past midnight.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) announced at 3am on Saturday (Sept 12) that the 24-hour PSI was at 74 - 95, indicating readings that are in the Moderate range. The 3-hour PSI remained the same as the previous hour, staying at 58.

The total number of hotspots detected in Sumatra on Friday (Sept 11) was 304, said the NEA; and widespread moderate to dense haze was observed in central and southern Sumatra, with some haze spreading to the western parts of Peninsular Malaysia.

Slightly hazy conditions are expected to continue for the rest of Saturday.

The prevailing winds are forecast to continue blowing from the southeast and Singapore may experience occasional hazy conditions during the day, said the NEA. 

The NEA said on Friday that hazy conditions improved due to a shift in the direction of the prevailing winds to southeasterly and are expected to continue improving through the day as the winds are forecasted to be maintained.

Singapore experienced its worst haze in two years overnight with the three-hour PSI breaching the 200-mark, hitting 207 at 11pm and reaching a high of 248 at 3am early this morning. The PSI then began to decline in the following hours.

Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday conveyed Singapore’s “deep concern” to the Indonesian Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar, and called for stricter enforcement actions against the perpetrators.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen called Indonesian Defence Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu to assist in combating the forest fires in Sumatra. The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have placed on standby a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations, a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial fire-fighting, and up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry the Singapore Civil Defence Force fire-fighting assistance team.