Activation of Alert Level 2 for the Southern ASEAN Region
Prevailing dry weather conditions over the southern ASEAN region in recent days have led to an escalation in hotspot and smoke haze activities. Based on satellite surveillance, moderate smoke haze was observed to emanate from clusters of hotspots detected in the central parts of Sumatra. Some transboundary haze was observed to drift into western Peninsular Malaysia. 79 and 65 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on 18 and 19 July 2025 respectively from the NOAA-20 satellite. Few hotspots were also detected elsewhere in the southern ASEAN region.
Dry weather is expected to persist over the southern ASEAN region in the coming days, with prevailing winds likely to blow from the southeast or southwest. Under these conditions, the hotspot and smoke haze situation could worsen with an increased risk of transboundary smoke haze occurrence.