PUBLISHED ONOctober 15, 2026 12:00 PMBYSean LerThundery showers over several areas in Singapore on Thursday (Oct 15) morning did little to improve the haze situation here as dense smoke haze from fires in Kalimantan continued to drift towards Singapore.
In its daily haze situation update, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said this was due to the prevailing south-easterly winds, adding that smoke haze was also observed over Sumatra.
Turning to Friday, NEA said the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) is expected to be in the unhealthy to low-very unhealthy range, even though showers are expected over Singapore and the surrounding region.
This is because southern Sumatra and parts of Kalimantan are likely to remain dry.
"With the winds forecast to be east-southeasterly or south-easterly, smoke haze is likely to continue to be carried from Kalimantan towards Singapore," NEA explained.
But there could be hopes for cleaner air over the weekend, with more showers forecast over Singapore and parts of Kalimantan, NEA said.
With prevailing winds shifting to blow from southeast or south, the transport of smoke haze from Kalimantan to Singapore could be reduced.
Some haze from Sumatra, however, may still drift towards Singapore, NEA cautioned.
Since re-entering the high-band at 4pm (181µg/m3), PM2.5 readings in the central region have been steadily rising.
At 7pm, one-hour PM2.5 ranged from 98 in the northern region to 221µg/m3 in central Singapore.
A total of four regions — southern (157µg/m3), western (166µg/m3), eastern (176µg/m3) and central — are in the high-band.
Concentration readings of more than 251µg/m3 are in the very high band.
Meanwhile, PSI across Singapore remains in the unhealthy range, with central Singapore having the highest reading of 185. This is followed by the western region (180).
Outdoor and non-air conditioned ActiveSG facilities in the eastern, western, southern and central regions are temporarily closed as a precautionary measure due to the current haze situation.
The latest list of facilities temporarily closed due to the haze can be found on the ActiveSG Circle website.
Singaporeans who are collecting their N95 masks can use the HazeMaskGoWhere website for more information on the eligibility criteria, collection locations and live updates on mask availability at the vending machines.
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