Regional Haze Situation

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Latest Weather and Haze Situation

Dry and cloudy conditions prevailed over most parts of the northern ASEAN region overnight. Clusters of scattered hotspots were detected in Cambodia and Thailand while isolated hotspots were detected elsewhere in the Mekong sub-region. Slight haze was observed to linger over many parts of Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. Many air quality stations in the central Mekong sub-region reported Unhealthy levels. However, the full extent of the hotspot and smoke haze situation in the northern and central parts of the sub- region could not be determined due to extensive cloud cover.

Elsewhere, showers were observed over most part of the southern ASEAN region and hotspot activities were subdued for the region.

Weather and Haze Outlook

In the next few days, dry conditions are expected to persist over the Mekong sub-region. The hotspot and smoke haze activities may intensify over fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with an increased risk of transboundary haze. The prevailing winds north of the Equator are expected to blow from the northeast to east, except over the Mekong sub- region where the winds are forecast to be light and variable.

Meanwhile, shower activities are expected over the southern ASEAN region in the coming days and the hotspot activity in the region is expected to remain low. The winds south of the Equator are forecast to be west to northwest.

  • All maps are to be used solely for displaying meteorological/geophysical information, and not for any other purpose. All maps are not to scale and for illustrative purpose only.
  • The hotspots depicted on the map are derived from the NOAA satellite and they represent locations with possible fires. Hotspots may go undetected due to cloudy conditions or incomplete satellite pass.
  • At Alert Level 0 and Alert Level 1, the regional haze situation is updated once a day at 0900 UTC. The regional haze situation is updated more frequently at 0300 UTC and 0900 UTC upon activation of Alert Level 2 or Alert Level 3. Updates at 0300 UTC display hotspot information from night-time passes of the NOAA-20 satellite. Fewer hotspots were typically detected at night as fire activities usually peak during the day.
  • Reprocessed satellite data will be availed at a later timing. The hotspot information derived from satellite data reprocessed may differ slightly from that received near real-time but reprocessing is necessary for better quality data.
  • The 2500 ft winds (depicted by arrows) are model analysis winds.

Seasonal Forecast for February 2025 – April 2025

Summary of Outlook

Under the prevailing Northeast Monsoon, the northern and southern ASEAN region continues to experience their traditional dry and wet season respectively as the monsoon rainband is located south of the Equator, with prevailing low-level winds blowing from the northwest or northeast over the region. While showers are typical over the southern ASEAN region, dry spells can be expected during the dry phase of the Northeast Monsoon, typically during February. Around late March or early April, the prevailing low-level winds gradually weaken and become light and variable in direction as the Northeast Monsoon transitions into inter-monsoon conditions.

For February, below-to near-normal rainfall is predicted over the equatorial region, with above-normal predicted over the rest of the Maritime Continent. For the February to March 2025 (FMA) period overall, models predict an increased chance of above-normal rainfall over the northern half of the Maritime Continent, while below-normal rainfall is predicted over the equatorial region. There is also an increase in chance of above-normal rainfall over parts of Mainland Southeast Asia. La Niña conditions are now present, with a transition to ENSO neutral predicted by April-May 2025. La Niña conditions are typically associated with wetter than average conditions over much of Southeast Asia. Above-normal temperature is predicted over much of the ASEAN region for FMA 2025, apart from over eastern Mainland Southeast Asia where near-normal temperature is predicted.

Despite an above-normal rainfall outlook for some parts of the Mekong sub-region during the outlook period, further intensification of hotspots and smoke haze activities, along with a heightened risk of transboundary smoke haze occurrence, can still be expected over the sub-region as overall dry conditions dominate the area. While the overall hotspot activity is likely to remain subdued under the prevailing wet weather conditions over the southern ASEAN region, hotspot activity may increase during the dry phase of the Northeast Monsoon conditions, particularly in areas where below-normal rainfall is predicted.

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Recent Updates

03

Feb

Summary of Outlook for February – April 2025
Under the prevailing Northeast Monsoon, the northern and southern ASEAN region continues to experience their traditional dry and wet season respectively as the monsoon rainband is located south of the Equator….
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28

Jan

Subseasonal Weather Outlook (3 – 19 February 2025)
Wetter conditions are predicted over the northeastern Maritime Continent in Week 1 (3 – 9 February). Drier conditions are predicted over parts of the equatorial region in….
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16

Jan

Review of Regional Weather for December 2024
During December 2024, the western Maritime Continent experienced below-average rainfall, while rest of the Maritime Continent as well as parts of southeastern Mainland Southeast Asia experienced predominately above-average rainfall. Elsewhere in Mainland Southeast Asia, there were…
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