Heavy rainstorms ease haze crisis in North

[webfact]

Heavy rainstorms ease haze crisis in North



BANGKOK: -- The haze crisis in the North eased today after tropical storm hit most parts of the country bringing airborne particulate matters to 17-131 microns per cubic metre on average 24- hour monitoring.

The Department of Pollution Control said measurement of PM 10 dusts showed improvement of air quality in the North after heavy rainstorms lashed several northern provinces affected by haze for the past few weeks.

The pollutant measurement stayed at 17-131 microns per square metre for a 24-hour monitoring, indictating improved air quality or less hazardous to health than the days before

However pollution control officials still asked for cooperation from local people to not burn any farm residues or brach and dried leaves as it could deteriorate the situation again.

Measurement of air quality in Mae Hong Son this morning showed PM 10 at 129 microns which dropped from earlier over 300 microns but remained health hazardous.

Health officials advised people to still wear sanitary masks when leaving houses or stay outdoor.

The Phayao Meteorological Office also reported no fire hotspots detected today after heavy brains throughout the night last night.

The smokey haze that covered the province vanished with the rain but the sky remained cloudy as if it was still blanketed by smokey haze.

All fire hotspots were put out by rains.

Ozone measurement or O3 over the province was at 87 ppb, indicating improved air quality than the previous days.

Meanwhile the Royal Rainmaking and Agricultural Aviation Department director general Warawuth Kantiyanand said the rainmaking team has to adjust the rainmaking mission after the rain has significantly reduced the moisture in the sky.

Rainmaking mission could resume once the humidity reached 60%.

Besides the smoky haze has drawn moisture from the clouds prompting the team to spray heat increasing chemical substances in the north to attract the haze to float into the air, thus diluting the smoky condition.

In Chiang Mai heavy rains and break storms also hit San Patong and Hang Dong districts, easing the haze that covered the areas for severity days.

However many homes were also damaged by the storms and electricity was blacked out in large areas.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/heavy-rainstorms-ease-haze-crisis-in-north

-- Thai PBS 2015-03-24

[JoePai]

Good news, we can forget about this until next year - next

[clockman]

Thai proverb,never do today, what you can put off till tomorrow! See you next year.

[JAG]

It was a phenomenally heavy storm. In my part of rural Chiang Rai many trees are down, Corn and cucumber crops flattened and the roof fell off grandpas farm hut!

Air is clean though.

Edited March 24, 2015 by JAG

[Maybole]

I spoke by Skype to my granddaughters today at 1130 utc, 1830 local in Chiangmai.. To their delight it started to rain heavily while we were speaking. BBC weather reported temperature at Chiangmai Airport at 1700 local as 37C. Now at 0400 local it is 21C. Hooray!

[Pii Kate]

Everyone relies heavily on Nature to solve eco problems. Nothing proactive. At some point soon Nature will not be able to protect us from ourselves.

[Asiantravel]

Everyone relies heavily on Nature to solve eco problems. Nothing proactive. At some point soon Nature will not be able to protect us from ourselves.

Nature will never be able to overcome the complete mess all around the Pacific region caused by the Fukushima disaster

[wolfmanjack]

I didn't get very heavy rains but the high winds did a lot of damage.

[billd766]

Down here in the central region by the Mae Wong national park we had a tremendous thunderstork with very high winds, A couple of sheets came off my store shed roof.

The fishpond had no water in it though.

On Monday night the storm came back but not as strong and on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights we had power outages from 2 1/2 to 6 hours long.

[SiSePuede419]

I wanted to escape the North for the coast, but decided to stay. I even wore a mask outside.

Now, I have a sore throat, hoarse and green mucus. All symptoms of Bronchitis caused by inhalation of dust from the tribals burning their corn fields plus local rice field burning.

Thanks to the rain, the Air Quality Index is much better.

I guess the only thing I can do now is take lots of showers with the door and window closed (steam) and gargle and irrigate my nose with saline solution.

And next Smokey season, don't hesitate to bail out on the next flight to the coast. The long-term health consequences of smoke inhalation are worst than the extra expense of the coast vs the North...