Smog-free skies expected next week as cyclone blows away

Met chief says inter-monsoon season will bring afternoon rain and clear skies next month

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia can expect to be smog-free by early next month, thanks to the onset of the inter-monsoon, and as the effects of tropical cyclone Dujuan in the Philippines begin dissipating early next week.

The director-general of meteorology, Che Gayah Ismail, said the cyclone could begin dissipating as early as Monday to Wednesday.

Cyclone Dujuan which has been building up in the Philippines from last Tuesday, brought back the smog, after a short respite, because of a change in wind direction.

Che Gayah said the skies should have cleared by now, with the onset of the inter-monsoon season in the middle of September. “However, we can expect to be free from the haze soon,” she said.

The inter-monsoon season would also bring frequent rainfall in the afternoons.

She said the Meteorological Department was monitoring the situation in Johor closely and was awaiting any notification from the Department of Environment to carry out cloud-seeding.

“The criteria is that API for an area is at an unhealthy level for 72 hours consecutively. If there is improvement in API to moderate level in that period, we will have to reset the counting.

Three stations in Johor – Pasir Gudang, Larkin Lama and Kota Tinggi – reported unhealthy API since Thursday, but saw improvement in air quality this morning, with the index recorded at the moderate level as at 1pm.

An API reading of 0 to 50 indicates good air quality; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; 201 to 300, very unhealthy and 300 and above, hazardous.

Hourly air pollution readings are available at http://apims.doe.gov.my

– BERNAMA