REVIEW OF REGIONAL HAZE SITUATION IN ASEAN REGION (January 2023)
In January 2023, Northeast Monsoon conditions continued to be observed over the ASEAN region. Dry weather prevailed over most of the Mekong sub-region. Meanwhile, rainy weather prevailed over the southern ASEAN region and the Philippines. In particular, monsoon surges contributed to increased rainfall over southern of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, western Borneo, central Sumatra, and southern Philippines.
The hotspot counts in the Mekong sub-region slightly elevated throughout January 2023 compared to the same review period in 2022. The highest hotspot activity was detected in Cambodia, and the hotspot count for Lao PDR and Viet Nam was slightly higher than the past five years. An escalation in hotspot activity and development of smoke haze was observed in many parts of the Mekong sub-region from the second half of the month. On 27 January 2023, Alert Level 2 was activated for the Mekong sub-region as hotspot counts were persistently high and there was an increasing risk of transboundary haze. For the southern ASEAN region, hotspot activity remained generally subdued and the hotspot counts were lower or comparable to those in previous years.
APFP 2010-2014
