Smoke, Smog, Dust 2015 Chiang Mai

[vivid]

Stations 35T and 36T are reporting 165 and 236 micrograms PM10 per cubic meter at 7 PM tonight which is the highest evening level for the season. Will be interesting to see how high the level is by the morning as the cooler descending air brings in more particulates into the CM valley from the mountains.

Was about to say that man, you beat me to it.

Same goes to 57t and 58t. (Chiang Rai and Mae Song Hon)

The PM levels are too high, too early. In fact Chiang Rai's levels are quite sustained and slowly increasing. This has a big impact on the 24-hr figures.

[vivid]

Mentioned earlier that PM2.5 particles can travel for over 2000km. (in this case, 3000km is not a problem)

This is proof.

2007

http://environmentalnews.blogspot.sg/2007/03/singapore-not-spared-from-thailands.html

By Sheralyn Tay, TODAY
20 March 2007

As thick smoke from forest fires and slash-and-burn farming cloaks Thailand in its worst haze in 14 years. Singapore, too, has not been spared.

The Republic experienced a slightly hazy start to the week, with the overall PSI just falling out of the "good" range.
At 7pm yesterday, the PSI reading went into the "moderate" range for a reading of 52 — the highest level in March.

On Sunday, the smell of smoke could be detected in areas like Orchard Road and Toa Payoh.

Asthmatic Chris Dubberke, 27, had some difficulty breathing yesterday and had to use his inhaler pump, but did not realise the cause was the haze.

"The weakening winds, which is typical during the transition from the north-east monsoon to the inter-monsoon during this period, has not helped in dispersing the smoke haze particles," said an NEA spokesperson.

Experts believe that the extended winter is trapping smoke close to the cold ground and preventing it from dissipating into the atmosphere. The cold is also pushing the smoke down into low-lying areas. The haze has affected some five million people in Chiang Mai and parts of Laos and Myanmar.

Edited March 15, 2015 by vivid

[Awk]

For anyone interested, outside the supermarket at central festival this evening there were some people selling air purifiers. Advertised as "buy one, get one free".

Were a couple different brands, though the only I had heard of was Bionaire.

[vivid]

24hr moving average PM10 (ug/m3)

57t Natural Resources and Environment Office, Chiangrai 2015-03-16 06:00:00 = 294 ug/m3

58t Natural Resources and Environment Office, Mae Hongson 2015-03-16 06:00:00 = 303 ug/m3

70t Knowledge Park, Phayao 2015-03-16 06:00:00 = 240 ug/m3

36t

2015-03-16 03:00:00

PM10 = 297 ug/m3

PM2.5 = 292 ug/m3

2015-03-16 06:00:00

PM10 = 318.82

PM2.5 = not reported.but should be 300 ug/m3 thereabouts

Edited March 16, 2015 by vivid

[MastaMak]

I think today is the worst day in Chiang Mai so far. With a PM10 of 340 at 7am, and the PM2.5 stopped showing up for some reason (maybe a delay in readings?).

Lately it seems 11am is when it's at its peak, let's see in a few hours:

[vivid]

I think today is the worst day in Chiang Mai so far. With a PM10 of 340 at 7am, and the PM2.5 stopped showing up for some reason (maybe a delay in readings?).

Lately it seems 11am is when it's at its peak, let's see in a few hours:

]

Yep...1100hrs, lets see how it'll go.

Current PM2.5 in CM should be low 300s thereabouts.

[vivid]

Bro Puck2, the current situation in MHS is v v bad. Please take steps to reduce exposure. Spread the word.

[vivid]

PM10 1hr record for 2015 season broken.

1000hr 1hr PM10 36t Chiang mai = 405.

PM2.5 = 353.

MHS 58t sustained in 400+ region for 3 hours. And another 4hrs 380+.

Chiang Rai 57t also v bad, close to 400.

35t spike to 352.

Edited March 16, 2015 by vivid

[sappersrest]

Landed at Chiang Mai this morning at 8.30, once the aircraft turned to go to the terminal building you could not see the end of the runway. bit of a shock after bing in Oz for 2 weeks.

[vivid]

Landed at Chiang Mai this morning at 8.30, once the aircraft turned to go to the terminal building you could not see the end of the runway. bit of a shock after bing in Oz for 2 weeks.

Would advise ya to source some N95s, lest they run out due to panic buying.

[nikster]

PM10 1hr record for 2015 season broken.

1000hr 1hr PM10 36t Chiang mai = 405.

PM2.5 = 353.

MHS 58t sustained in 400+ region for 3 hours. And another 4hrs 380+.

Chiang Rai 57t also v bad, close to 400.

35t spike to 352.

Holy shit. That's significantly worse than I thought it would get.

Enjoying a fresh breeze in Bangkok with the nearest station measuring PM10 of 20. Yup. Twenty.

[T_Dog]

Landed at Chiang Mai this morning at 8.30, once the aircraft turned to go to the terminal building you could not see the end of the runway. bit of a shock after bing in Oz for 2 weeks.

Yeah, that would be a shock! The level just hit 405 micrograms per cubic meter of PM10. It is going to be a rough couple of days until we get relief. Hopefully the weather disturbance heads this way as if it stays south, it could actually make things worse, if that is possible!

[vivid]

Ok T_Dog, i will try to track Tropical Storm Bavi as welll. Update here.

[vivid]

1100hrs update

35t 1hr PM10 = 436 ug/m3. (up from 352)

36t 1hr PM2.5 = 367 ug/m3 (up from 353)

36t 1hr PM10 = 382 ug/m3 (down from 405)

57 and 58t (CR and MHS) dropped to PM10 322 and 385.

[nikster]

^ ?! 436 is crazy...

[T_Dog]

^ ?! 436 is crazy...

Screen Shot 2015-03-16 at 13.03.00 .png

That's right. Just leave and then look back with morbid curiosity!

It is the worst of the season today for sure. Those measurements are in only two locations, but I am sure there are low lying pockets right now which are much worse. Even my dog is sneezing today.

[vivid]

1200h update

35t and 36t Chiang Mai areas, still no signs of letting up for PM10 and PM2.5 despite expected to drop by noon time.

(PM2.5 = 369 ug/m3. PM10 for both areas 406 and 427 ug/m3).

57t and 58t (CR and MHS) situation improved a little and may drop further. (still in the mid 300s range)

70t Phayao, not too good also, right smack in 300s range for PM10 for a while.

Edited March 16, 2015 by vivid

[Awk]

Has the situation improved during the last few years?

Unfortunately, one cannot claim that I think. At least not for the months February - March. Below is a plot for those months for the last four years. Shows pm10 from station 36t up to 12:00 today.

As can be seen, February this year started out with the highest pm10 count ever (counting from 2011) for February, and continued as the highest for the first half of the month. March the same; started out as the worst ever, then dropped to second worst for a few days, and is now back as the worst ever.

I have no idea if the weather forecasts with thunderstorms or rains mentioned by some will come true, but if nothing unusual happens, this looks like it will be the worst March ever. Already it is considerably worse than the previous record holder, March of 2012.

These plots have been smoothed, so some short-lasting (less than two hours I guess) bottom/top peaks will probably have been removed.

Edited March 16, 2015 by Awk

[vivid]

awk & T_Dog bros, next monday is way too long for forecasting the track of TS/Tropical Depression Bavi. It weakened a lot due to wind shear in the last 24hrs. The long range track cannot be confirmed with any decent certainty.

[puck2]

#362 vivid

......Experts believe that the extended winter is trapping smoke close to the cold ground and preventing it from dissipating into the atmosphere. The cold is also pushing the smoke down into low-lying areas. ....

This confirms what happened here this year. @T-Dog wrote it already in similar words. Apart from a few days, this year we have had could nights and an unusual could in the early morning until the first week of March. In general not more than 10-12°, later on the day about 25°.

In our area (valley surroundet by mountains) we don't have strong winds. The years before I could kill the fire with a flat shovel without being in danger. On the evening, sitting outside with a candle on the table, the wind doesn't blow it out. Unfortunately this is one of the causes we don't get rid of the smoke beside the reason you described before (cold) and not any drop of rain since the first days of December.

We have some natural signs of smoke alarm

• no clear view, don't even see the mountains in the background, not far-away, no deep blue sky, it's grey;
• when full moon whe have a strong and clear shadow of the limbs of our trees; now it's very blurred
• our 2 dogs getting "lazy", don't like to move a lot as in the other part of the year, they have dry and read eyes and sneezing, too.

Thank you also for your health advice. I booked a beach holiday already in January, starting this week (a little bit too late as we know now). We hope the only real smoke extinguisher, the rain, will arrive very soon.

[vivid]

Chiang mai 36t and 35t continue to get smoked at 1300h. No letting down.

1hr PM2.5 1300h = 373.

Past 11hrs avg PM2.5 = 350 ug/m3 range. That is hazardous AQI.

[mesquite]

Flights Redirected Away From Chiang Mai Due To Smog

by CityNews

CityNews – Flights into Chiang Mai International Airport have been sent back to their departure location due to poor visibility in Chiang Mai today.

Below is a list of flights that were affected:

• Thai Airways TG106 from Suvarnabhumi Airport expected to land at Chiang Mai International Airport at 11.40am, but had to return to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

• Lion Air SL8504 from Don Muang Airport expected to land at Chiang Mai International Airport at 12.05pm, but had to return to Don Muang Airport.

• Bangkok Airways PG241 from Samui expected to land at Chiang Mai International Airport at 12.10pm, but was forced to land at Chiang Rai Airport.

• Air Asia FD3161 from Phuket expected to land at Chiang Mai International Airport at 12.30 pm, but was forced to land at Chiang Rai Airport.

Despite Chiang Mai International Airport being equipped with automatic instrument landing system, the four flights landing between 11am and 1pm had to be redirected due to extremely poor visibility at only 800 meters.

All redirected landings were a result of safety protocols set out by the airlines and not the airport.

At around 1.30pm today visibility increased, resulting in flights being able to land safely again.

The four re-directed flights are yet to be re-scheduled.

[Sparkles]

awk & T_Dog bros, next monday is way too long for forecasting the track of TS/Tropical Depression Bavi. It weakened a lot due to wind shear in the last 24hrs. The long range track cannot be confirmed with any decent certainty.

Long range forecasting with a depression and rain so far away is just wishful thinking.

[vivid]

Long range forecasting with a depression and rain so far away is just wishful thinking.

Just gotta keep your fingers crossed man.

36 and 35t. CM stations finally showing a noticeable drop for 1600h. Waiting for subsequent nightfall rise.

[puukao]

You know it's bad when just breathing is a luxury. We should start a fund to help people go south and save them from long-term illness. Or even petition to the embassy for relief.

[vivid]

PM2.5 for 36t. A few readings were missing in the morning though.

There was even a spike to 564 ug/m3 the day before this graph (March 14th) for MHS. But these 2 days 24-hr figures are higher (more area under the graph)

Nasty.

[masuk]

This morning's excuse for 'dawn'.

[vivid]

Chiang Rai getting smoked hard this morning, followed by MHS.

CM 36 and 37 PM10 > 300 ug/m3 as well for the past 4 hrs.

But real "killer" is really the PM2.5 ug/m3 concentration, it is nearly the same as the PM10.

36t's PM10 and PM2.5 graphs are neck-to-neck.

Edited March 17, 2015 by vivid

[khunphil]

awk & T_Dog bros, next monday is way too long for forecasting the track of TS/Tropical Depression Bavi. It weakened a lot due to wind shear in the last 24hrs. The long range track cannot be confirmed with any decent certainty.

Long range forecasting with a depression and rain so far away is just wishful thinking.

Prediction were optimistic. Now we are speaking about stormsnext Tuesday. TS Bavi has weakened a lot ... We will see.

[vivid]

36t Chiang Mai, 0700h's PM2.5 is higher than PM10

2015-03-17 07:00:00

PM2.5 = 334.85

PM10 = 331.78

57t, 58t and 70t PM10 are similar to last hour.