Regional Haze Situation

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Latest Weather and Haze Situation

There were scattered showers over most parts of the ASEAN region today. Hotspot activities remained generally subdued with isolated hotspots detected mainly in western Myanmar as well as parts of Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam. No significant smoke haze was observed except for a few localised smoke plumes observed to be emanating from some of the hotspots in Viet Nam.

Weather and Haze Outlook

For the next few days, shower activities are expected over the ASEAN region, particularly over the equatorial areas and the southern parts of the Philippines. The prevailing winds are forecast to blow mainly from the southeast or southwest over the northern ASEAN region, and from the east or southeast over the southern ASEAN region.

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  • 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 thrice daily at 0200 UTC, 0500 UTC and 0900 UTC upon activation of Alert Level 2 or Alert Level 3. Updates at 0200 and 0500 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 May-June-July 2021

Summary of Outlook

The prevailing Inter-monsoon conditions are expected to persist in May 2021 as the monsoon rain band moves northwards over the Equator. During this period, the prevailing winds over the region are typically light and variable in direction for much of the ASEAN region. Inter-monsoon conditions typically transition into the Southwest Monsoon in June with the prevailing winds strengthening and blowing from the southeast or southwest. The Southwest Monsoon season is the traditional dry season for the southern ASEAN region, which brings persistent dry conditions over the region. For the northern ASEAN region, the Southwest Monsoon is the traditional wet season.

For the May to July 2021 period, models predict below-normal rainfall over parts of the western and central Maritime Continent, in particularly over parts of Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Elsewhere, there is no consistent prediction for the rainfall outlook between the models consulted. La Niña conditions are present over the tropical Pacific Ocean at the end of April, with climate models predicting its continued weakening to neutral conditions during May – June.

Warmer-than-usual temperature is expected for much of the Maritime Continent, with near to warmer-than-usual temperature elsewhere.

The increase in shower activities is expected to help subdue the hotspot and haze situation over the Mekong sub-region. In the southern ASEAN region, isolated hotspots with localised smoke plumes may develop in areas with below-normal rainfall over Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. As the traditional dry season typically sets in during June/July, the hotspot and haze situation is expected to elevate with increased risk of transboundary smoke haze in the region.

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ASEAN Climate Outlook Forum

The ASEAN Climate Outlook Forum (ASEANCOF) is an avenue to collaboratively develop consensus-based seasonal climate outlooks and related information on a regional scale.

15th ASEAN COF

Related Website

ASEAN Haze Online

Recent Updates

07

May

Regional Climate – El Nino / La Nina
The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) monitoring system is in “La Niña Conditions” in May 2021. The 1-month Nino3.4 sea surface temperature index continues to weaken, but still indicates La Niña conditions at the end of April. Atmospheric indicators …
More detail

06

May

Seasonal Forecast for May-June-July 2021
The prevailing Inter-monsoon conditions are expected to persist in May 2021 as the monsoon rain band moves northwards over the Equator. During this period, the prevailing winds over the region are typically light and variable in direction…
More detail

30

Apr

Subseasonal Weather Outlook (3 – 16 May 2021)
Wetter conditions are expected over parts of the western and central Maritime Continent in Week 1 (3 – 9 May) and may extend northward to coastal regions of southern Viet Nam. These wetter conditions are expected …
More detail