Air quality in all regions of Singapore in unhealthy range; central area the worst with 24-hour PSI at 154

Air quality in all regions of Singapore in unhealthy range; central area the worst with 24-hour PSI at 154 This is the first time since September 2019 that air quailty in all regions in the country entered the unhealthy range. SINGAPORE: Air quality in Singapore worsened on Tuesday (Sep 15), with all five regions recording unhealthy levels. This is the first time since September 2019 that air quality in all regions in the country entered the unhealthy range. As at 6am, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Singapore's central region was 154. The northern region of Singapore was the fifth region to record unhealthy air quality, with PSI hitting 104 at 6am. Four of five regions recorded unhealthy levels on Monday night. The PSI for eastern and western regions, which entered the unhealthy band at 4pm on Monday, registered readings of 128 at 6am. The PSI reading in the Southern region stood at 111. On Monday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in its daily haze advisory that the 24-hour PSI was forecast to be in the high moderate to mid unhealthy range. It added that moderate to dense smoke plumes from fires in Kalimantan drifted to Singapore due to a shift in the prevailing winds to blow from east-southeast. There was also some smoke haze drifting from southern Sumatra. "Dry conditions are forecast over Singapore and the surrounding region in the coming days. With the prevailing winds forecast to continue blowing from the southeast to east-southeast, Singapore will likely be affected by smoke haze," said NEA. The 24-hour PSI spiked into the unhealthy range in central Singapore on Sep 4 for the first time since 2023, prompting NEA to start providing daily haze advisories from that evening. The unhealthy PSI band runs from 101 to 200, while a reading is considered "very unhealthy" if it is between 201 and 300, and "hazardous" if it is above 300.