Smoke, Smog, Dust 2015 Chiang Mai

[CNXBKKMAN]

It's great that this thread seems to be finished for this year however this afternoon I noticed the Singapore Chinook going north over the city with it 5000 litre bucket. Must be some fire somewhere?

[T_Dog]

Saw a large fire yesterday up in the hills and there was a lot of smoke. The inversion layer has broken up and we have winds so the particulates are not building up. Hopefully this unsettled weather with occasional rain will continue.

[Sparkles]

Driving between Tak and Lampang yesterday, I saw several farmers doing their best to set stubble alight despite intermittent showers in the mountains. They didn't seem in the least concerned that every car, truck and police car driving past could see them.

Yes it still happening and there is no fear from the people lighting the fires as the chances of a fine or a good talking too are remote.

We will be posting the same comments next year. The officials "monitoring" this yearly fiasco have not even come up with numbers that have been fined.

[Thailand]

Driving out of our MooBaan very early this morning,still dark, through a small village at the back there were two fires burning.

Guess they think they can't be seen in the dark.

On the way back I could see leaves etc piled up ready for another burn. This is a very regular occurence, add in all the other villages etc there could still be a few smelly days before it's all over.

Hope not though!

[TheAppletons]

Driving out of our MooBaan very early this morning,still dark, through a small village at the back there were two fires burning.

Guess they think they can't be seen in the dark.

On the way back I could see leaves etc piled up ready for another burn. This is a very regular occurence, add in all the other villages etc there could still be a few smelly days before it's all over.

Hope not though!

Leaves are nothing. According to the Thai government, there are still 1.1 million rai of corn stubble to be burned this year and the government is warning that the smoke may be back once that burning resumes.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/813761-haze-could-return-in-north-as-many-cornfields-still-to-be-cleared/

[blueyeshk]

You don't need goverment warnings - this was just a bit of rain - they will start all over again now- and it will stop with raining season so you are in for more for at least another 3 weeks a little break during Sonkran and again - full stop!

Edited March 31, 2015 by blueyeshk

[T_Dog]

Excellent article in Chiang Mai Citylife.

http://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citylife-articles/choking-for-air-chiang-mai-in-crisis/

[TheAppletons]

And, on cue, the smog is back again. Very difficult to see the Doi Suthep through the smoke this morning.

[vivid]

[vivid]

Chiang Mai's 36t PM2.5 has risen to approx. 120 ug/m3 range since yesterday afternoon.

[beau thai]

Yep, here we go again. Smell smoke inside condo in Nong Hoi today, and no mountain view.

The 'authorities' expect more than 1 million rai to be burned ( between rain) over the next 4 weeks.

Ploughing in the stubble is good for the soil but more work of course than lighting a few fires, and in return for switching to maize, there seems to be some accommodation with those farmers to allow them to burn without penalty.

LoS- Land of Smog now,no smiles.

But I still love living here!!!!

[beau thai]

We have I million rai to plough, instead of burning.

2000 plough/ days at 500 rai a day. 100 ploughs and 500 soldiers= 20 days, job done.

Ploughs financed by China maybe, on lease?? And most countries use soldiers for disasters. Free labour.

Ploughs then available for other work, and stubble turned into nutrient for the next crop.

Faulty logic?? Faulty Maths?? Too simple a solution??

But the Environment Minister's solution is to ask them to defer burning until May. Check Citylife article

This pollution will damage development of thai under 5 children and kill old people until it is fixed.

Burning in May is no solution and neither is a couple of Singaporean Chinooks.

[Mapguy]

We have I million rai to plough, instead of burning.

2000 plough/ days at 500 rai a day. 100 ploughs and 500 soldiers= 20 days, job done.

Ploughs financed by China maybe, on lease?? And most countries use soldiers for disasters. Free labour.

Ploughs then available for other work, and stubble turned into nutrient for the next crop.

Faulty logic?? Faulty Maths?? Too simple a solution??

But the Environment Minister's solution is to ask them to defer burning until May. Check Citylife article

This pollution will damage development of thai under 5 children and kill old people until it is fixed.

Burning in May is no solution and neither is a couple of Singaporean Chinooks.

This thinking is certainly useful. There are different ways to assist or subsidize collection and conversion of corn detritus and plowing, certainly solutions that do not depend upon China.

Turning soldiers into farmers is a novel idea which will no doubt be well-received by the military !! At least it would give them something to do rather than hanging around Chiang Mai city gates watching TV!

[vivid]

36t 24-hr AQI is 169. About 90 ug/m3 PM2.5.

Hit a high of 1-hr 125 ug/m3 yesterday 0700hr, 1hr AQI of 187.

Anyway, here's a look at Shanghai's real-time air quality page.

[T_Dog]

More and more reports coming out on the dangers, especially in SE Asia.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-business/asian-air-is-killing-us/

[evenstevens]

out in beverly hills, mae rim. the smog is back again ,but no great surprise really,feel strongly we were lucky to get a week or so respite

tywais my old cobber,whats your long range rain forecast???, its our only hope,

as your astute rain possibility posts earlier on this thread ,were bang on the money,

sure beats the number crunchers

a nice smoggy morning to all

[Tywais]

tywais my old cobber,whats your long range rain forecast???, its our only hope,

Sadly, no sign of rain until Sunday the 12th, after Songkran.

[vivid]

I get my info from wunderground.com

No rain for the next 10 days when viewing at this point in time. (ignore those < 50% probabilities)

http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:00000.1.48327

[vivid]

BTW, this year's El Nino is starting to shape up. There is a possibility that it might hit a moderate El nino. (Nino 3.4 sustaining between 1.0 to 1.5 deg C)

It's really gonna be dry for SEA region.

Latest data, updated daily.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/Tropicsweatherpr/comment.html?entrynum=75

[beau thai]

Yep,

And YR.no forecasts no rain until 11/4 at CNX and then only 0.9mm and 1.1mm on 12/4 - but long range forecasts are what they are, and forecasting to a decimal point of a mm 10 days out is probably the over appliance of science, imho.

[vivid]

More and more reports coming out on the dangers, especially in SE Asia.

http://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-business/asian-air-is-killing-us/

Be careful of the "several hours" spikes too. Quite often I could see these > 200 ug/m3 spikes in CM, CR, MHS et, in which the corresponding PM2.5 would not be far behind.

Esp for those with asthma, the vunerable who are susceptible to heart issues and stroke etc.

http://ens-newswire.com/2011/09/22/air-pollution-linked-to-short-term-spike-in-heart-attack-risk/

http://www.menshealth.com.sg/health/warning-short-term-exposure-pm25-can-be-harmful

"NEA will have to acknowledge that it was a bit conservative on quantifying the risk posed by the smoke," said senior research scientist Santo Salinas at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing.

Some complained during last year's haze that NEA figures – averaged over periods longer than an hour – did not seem to match what was outside their windows.

Dr Frey said the new one-hour index will "change more quickly and be more consistent with people's observations of visibility reduction".

Assistant Professor Harvey Neo of the NUS Department of Geography said: "Some people will get a sense that this was a long time coming, or feel they have been cheated for the past few years.

"But most would welcome the changes... I would see this as (the Government) trying to match reality better."

Edited April 3, 2015 by vivid

[happy Joe]

I get my info from wunderground.com

No rain for the next 10 days when viewing at this point in time. (ignore those < 50% probabilities)

http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:00000.1.48327

Accuweather provides the same but it goes further .

http://www.accuweather.com/fr/th/chiang-mai/317505/april-weather/317505?monyr=4/1/2015#

Late April after Songkran should be cooler and wetter than usual.

Edited April 4, 2015 by happy Joe

[TheAppletons]

Weather.com predicts thunderstorms (80% chance of rain) on Monday, 13 April.

[CNXBKKMAN]

Nice smokey sunset over Doi Suthip this evening.....

[TheAppletons]

Doi Suthep is completely obscured by smog this morning.

[beau thai]

Hmm. YR.NO forecasts only 2.6mm at CNX for 13/14 combined. Hope they are wrong...

[TheAppletons]

Hmm. YR.NO forecasts only 2.6mm at CNX for 13/14 combined. Hope they are wrong...

Even if it doesn't rain a lot, the weather front that accompanies the rain often moves the suspended haze out from CM. We didn't really get that much rain two weeks ago (or it didn't seem like it, visually) but the smog still cleared out. Let's hope it happens again.

[MMan]

From the 23rd floor of the Holiday Inn at 12:30 pm, I can see about 1 kilometer, and then it's just haze.

[chiang mai]

Doi Suthep is completely obscured by smog this morning.

Perhaps better to suggest your view is simply obscured. light refraction in the inversion layer is not uncommon, it's not necessarily down to smog or pollution.

[ChristianBlessing]

I flew out of CNX this morning at 9:10. Doi Suthep was not at all visible from the terminal. I enjoy traveling to Chiang Mai several times a year from Kuala Lumpur, but this is the last time I'll visit in spring. I'm in good health but found the coughing, sore throat and itchy eyes to be unbearable. I can't believe I found myself pleased to be back in KL.