Penang haze and air quality today

Friday 9 October: the CAMS global model forecasts a daily mean of 15.9 µg/m³ PM2.5 for Penang today, above the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; the highest of the next days is 15.9 µg/m³. These are model values. SkyPollen does not yet have a pollen level for Penang: no pollen forecast exists for Malaysia. For the official air pollutant index (API) see APIMS (Department of Environment Malaysia, live air pollutant index).

Forecast bars: daily mean PM2.5 from the Copernicus CAMS global model, as computed, against 150 µg/m³. Green is within the WHO 24-hour guideline (15 µg/m³), amber above it, red above the WHO interim target 1 (75 µg/m³). Model values, not monitor readings.

Haze and allergy in Penang

Penang, and George Town on its island, faces Sumatra directly across the northern Strait of Malacca, so when fires burn in northern Sumatra during the dry months of the southwest monsoon the smoke reaches Penang with little dilution. The island's sea breeze freshens the air on many afternoons, but in a haze episode it can also push smoke back over the mainland coast at Butterworth and Seberang Perai. Penang's rainfall also runs on a different rhythm from the south of the peninsula: its driest weeks come in January and February, and its wettest in September and October.

Read haze and dust mite allergy for what helps on hazy days and at home.

Other cities

• Singapore
  PM2.5 100.6 µg/m³
• Johor Bahru
  PM2.5 100 µg/m³
• Kuala Lumpur
  PM2.5 74.9 µg/m³
• Kuching
  PM2.5 27.8 µg/m³
• Penang
  PM2.5 15.9 µg/m³

Today's daily mean PM2.5 by city, CAMS global model (Copernicus), as computed. Model values, not monitor readings.

Copernicus CAMS global forecast run of 8 October at 08:00 GMT+8, shown as computed. Malaysia's official readings are published by the Department of Environment on APIMS (Department of Environment Malaysia, live air pollutant index); SkyPollen links to them and does not reproduce them.