Haze is gone, for now -- Meteorological Department

There were no ‘unhealthy’ Air Pollutant Index (API) readings today, the first time since haze returned early this week.

According to the Meteorological Department, most of the monitoring stations recorded visibility of “more than 6km” as of 10am this morning.

The department's central forecasting office director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said this improving haze condition is expected to continue.

“We expect this trend to continue as the light winds will bring rains and the number of hotspots in Sumatera remains low,” said Helmi.

The API in 19 areas was good while in 33 areas was moderate, according to the Department of Environment website.

Readings between 0-50 is categorised as considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101-200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), and 300 and above are hazardous.

At 1pm, the areas with a higher range of API levels included Bukit Rambai in Melaka (75), Seri Manjung, Perak(73), Seberang Jaya 2, Perai, Penang(67), Port Klang, Selangor(65) and Cheras (62).

Yesterday, the haze moved north, causing Ipoh in Perak and Seberang Jaya in Penang to have an unhealthy level of air quality this evening. Hot spots in Indonesia were also reported to have reduced.