Review of Regional Haze Situation for June 2026

1.1 Southwest Monsoon conditions became fully established in early June 2026. The prevailing winds across the southern ASEAN region blew mainly from the southeast to south, while the prevailing winds over the northern ASEAN region blew mostly from the south to west (Figure 1).

1.2 Rainfall prevailed over most parts of the ASEAN region during the review period, except over the southern parts of Sumatra and Borneo, as well as Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands where drier conditions were observed (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Average Daily Rainfall and Mean Winds for June 2026. (Source: JAXA GsMaP and GFS, respectively)

1.3 Over the southern ASEAN region, the hotspot counts for June 2026 were generally lower than or comparable to previous years (Figure 2). Over the northern ASEAN region, the hotspot counts for June 2026 were generally comparable to previous years, except in Thailand and the Philippines, where hotspot counts were slightly higher compared to the past 5 years (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for June (2022-2026) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 3: Hotspot counts for the southern ASEAN region for June (2022-2026) based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

1.4 During the review period, few to isolated hotspots were detected in the ASEAN region, with more persistent and intense fires in the southern parts of Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands, as well as parts of Viet Nam (Figure 4). During periods of dry weather over the southern ASEAN region, slight to moderate smoke plumes were observed emitting from hotspots detected mainly in the northern and central parts of Sumatra, Java and parts of Borneo (Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9).

Figure 4: Distribution of hotspots detected in June 2026 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 5: Maximum fire intensity in June 2026 based on NOAA-20 satellite surveillance.

Figure 6: Number of days with moderate to dense smoke haze observed in June 2026 based on satellite imagery, ground observations, and air quality reports.

Figure 7: Moderate localised smoke plume observed over the northern parts of Sumatra on 3 June 2026. (Source: NOAA-20 satellite surveillance)

Figure 8: Moderate localised smoke plumes were observed over West Kalimantan and the central parts of Sarawak on 5 June 2026. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)

Figure 9: Moderate localised smoke plume observed over the eastern parts of Java on 29 June 2026. (Source: Himawari-9 satellite surveillance)