Haze may hit Singapore due to dry weather, hot spots in Sumatra: NEA

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SINGAPORE — Dry weather over the coming week in neighbouring Sumatra could lead to hazy conditions in Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) warned on Sunday (Sept 3).

Noting an increase in activity at hot spots in Sumatra over the past few days, with some producing plumes of smoke, NEA said the prevailing dry weather is expected to continue over the southern and central parts of the Indonesian island.

This, the agency said, has the potential to escalate the hot spot and haze situation there, leading to hazy conditions affecting Singapore.

According to NEA, 28 hot spots were detected on Saturday and 23 on Sunday. The hot spots were mostly located in southern Sumatra.

The agency said: "The smoke plumes are still some distance away from Singapore and not observed to drift directly to Singapore under prevailing winds blowing from the south-east."

A satellite photo posted by NEA, taken by Japanese weather satellite Himawari 9, shows the smoke plumes from hot spots in the south of Sumatra being blown towards the north-west away from Singapore.

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index at 4pm on Sunday was between 45 and 76, which is in the good to moderate range.

NEA said it is monitoring the situation closely.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.