SINGAPORE: The hourly PM2.5 reading in western Singapore surged to 284, entering the Very High band at 2pm on Wednesday (Oct 14), as air quality remained unhealthy across the country.
The reading in the west had earlier stood at 195, in the High band.
At 2pm, hourly PM2.5 readings were in the High range in the south (159), east (195) and central (206) regions. The northern region remained in the elevated range at 125.
Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings were in the unhealthy band across all regions.
In its advisory on Wednesday morning, NEA said that dry weather continued over many parts of the southern Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region overnight except for the northern parts of Sumatra, Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia, which saw rain.
"Scattered to widespread hotspots were detected in Kalimantan and the southern parts of Sumatra, while few hotspots were detected elsewhere in the southern ASEAN region."
It added that many air quality stations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan, Sumatra and western Sarawak reported unhealthy to hazardous air quality levels, but cloud cover prevented a full assessment of the smoke haze situation across parts of the region.
"In the coming days, dry conditions are forecast to continue over parts of the southern ASEAN region, apart from Peninsular Malaysia, and the northern and central parts of Sumatra and Borneo, where showers are expected," said NEA.
"While the hotspot and smoke haze situation may improve in areas experiencing showers, the situation is expected to remain elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with a continued risk of severe transboundary haze occurrence."
The prevailing winds over the southern ASEAN region are expected to blow mainly from the east-southeast to south.
NEA forecast in its Tuesday haze advisory that the air quality in Singapore would remain unhealthy on Wednesday.