Clearer skies as winds change direction, smoke haze may hit Singapore from Oct 20

Residents in Singapore enjoyed a rare day of clearer skies and fresher air on Sunday (Oct 18), after a change in wind directions led to an improvement in air quality here.In its daily haze situation update on Sunday evening, the National Environment Agency (NEA) stated that winds had turned to blow from the south."However, some smoke haze from Kalimantan continued drifting towards Singapore. Smoke haze was also observed over Sumatra," the agency said.At 6pm, the one-hour PM2.5 was in the normal band in the northern region (36), while remaining in the low-elevated band in eastern (67), central (69), western (66) and southern (69) Singapore.Meanwhile, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index was in the unhealthy range across Singapore.The highest reading of 192 was recorded in the western region, while northern Singapore had the lowest reading of 109.Turning to its forecast for Monday, NEA said showers are expected over Singapore and the surrounding region.