HAZY ATMOSPHERE. The sun is moderately covered by haze in Metro Cebu on Monday, Sept. 22, 2019. Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Acting Director Engineer Alfredo Quiblat said a change in wind direction can cause the smog, which has blanketed the skies in Central Visayas since last week, to dissipate in the next two to three days. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
CEBU CITY – The weather bureau stationed on Mactan Island on Monday forecast that the haze being experienced in Metro Cebu, due to the Indonesian forest fire, will dissipate in the next two to three days due to change in wind direction.
This, as the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) in Central Visayas on Monday joined in the conduct of a visual assessment in the hinterland villages in this city, following reports of poor visibility due to haze.
Engineer Alfredo Quiblat, acting director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the visibility problem will soon be addressed due to change in the direction of the wind.
“We are expecting to experience a wind direction from northeast to north direction,” Quiblat told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview.
The wind carrying the smog from the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia will train a different path passing outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR), he explained.
“The wind direction in the next two to three days is salubong (opposite). It will allow the cold wind from China or Japan to dominate the atmosphere as the southwest monsoon (Habagat) is transitioning to northwest monsoon (Amihan) we usually experience during the last quarter of the year,” he said.
Quiblat also said despite the positive development with regard the monitored haze in Metro Cebu, PAGASA-Mactan continues to provide meteorological airport report (METAR) to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) tower stationed at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
According to him, they are mandated to provide CAAP a visibility advisory every hour to guide the air traffic control and pilots of aircraft landing at the Mactan airport.
Quiblat described the airport vicinity and the approaching environs right now as blanketed by a light haze with eight to nine-kilometer visibility.
Last week, visibility due to the haze was at six to seven kilometers.
In October 2015, visibility at the airport area in Mactan reached a critical level of two kilometers, Quiblat recalled.
Engineer Cindylyn Pepito-Ochea told the PNA in a separate interview that they are also conducting visibility assessment in Cebu City, especially in the upland villages.
On Sunday (Sept. 22), the EMB-7 reported “hazy-like atmospheric condition which may likely be attributed to the transboundary haze reportedly affecting Southeast Asian countries.
“As of 3 p.m., Sept. 22, data from the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station located in Talisay City, Cebu shows a particulate matter (PM) 2.5 (24-hour) value of 42.55 micrograms per natural cubic meter. The result is a significant increase in the usual values that range from 15 to 30 micrograms per natural cubic meter prior to the haze phenomenon,” an EMB-7 advisory said.
Ochea said the general public is still advised to take safety precautionary measures, such as wearing a face mask, and avoiding prolonged outdoor activities.
The public is also advised not to aggravate the situation by lessening air pollution emission from open burning of all types of wastes and reducing the use of motor vehicles. (PNA)
