WHILE the smoke is not expected to worsen, the current unhealthy air situation is expected to last for in the next few days, said the director-general of the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) Jailan Simon. 

“I don’t think it is going to worsen but such conditions may prolong for a few more days; as long as there is burning in Indonesia, the risk of getting haze is there until towards the end of September,” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

Rain, which can wash away the particles in the air, is only expected in monsoon season around the end of the month or early next month.

“We expect slight rain but more towards the northern part of the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak but as for southern part of peninsula and western part of Sarawak , not much rain is expected,” he said, on the chances of rainfall in the immediate future.

We are expecting (more rainfall) towards the end of September or early October because it will be monsoon season then.”

Rain is also expected in the Klang Valley but not in enough quantity to reduce the smoke.

Jailan said as long as burning persisted in neighbouring Indonesia, the smoke was bound to return. 

MetMalaysia is on standby to conduct cloud seeding should the weather conditions turn favourable. Clouds, moisture in the air and wind are required to induce rain.

As of 5pm, there are 18 areas in the country with unhealthy readings on the air pollution index (API). 

The areas are Sri Aman (176), Samarahan (119), Kuching (141), Rompin (197), Tangkak (119), Batu Muda (166), Cheras (153), Putrajaya (140), Petaling Jaya (144), Shah Alam (135), Klang (114), Banting (119), Nilai (148), Seremban (120), Port Dickson (107), Alor Gajah (103), Bukit Rambai (107), Johan Setia (155).

Forty-eight areas are in the moderate zone while Kimanis is registering healthy air. 

An API reading of 0-50 is good, 51-100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201-300 (very unhealthy), and 300 and above (hazardous).

According to the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre, dry weather is expected to persist over the southern part of Southeast Asia. 

“Persistent hotspots continued to be detected in central and southern Sumatra, and this led to a build-up of moderate to dense smoke haze. Some smoke haze has been blown by the prevailing winds to Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore,” it said on its website. 

Meanwhile, the wind is expected to blow dense smoke from the hotspots in South, Central and West Kalimantan in the Indonesian territory of the Borneo Island to western Sarawak and the adjacent South China Sea area. 

“For the next few days, generally dry conditions are forecast to prevail over the southern Asean region, hotspot activities are expected to persist may worsen. Transboundary haze is likely to continue to affect parts of the southern Asean region, including Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sarawak. – September 10, 2019.