Loading Haze: the API reading and school closures…
Sibu's air pollutant index right now, whether it has gone up or down since last night, what the Department of Environment says to do at that level — and who actually decides whether schools close.
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API 80
Moderate · below 200, the school-closure level
Sibu's air pollutant index (API), from the Department of Environment's monitor at the district police headquarters, updated every hour. This page shows the reading, which way it has moved over the last twelve hours, and the Department of Environment's own advice for that level. It also states the API 200 rule that governs school closures, and names the people who make that decision — because the index does not make it.
Right now · Air Pollutant Index
API 80 — Moderate
the Sibu station, at the district police headquarters
The pollutant driving the index right now is PM2.5.
Moderate pollution that does not pose any bad effect on health.
No restriction for outdoor activities to the public. Maintain healthy lifestyle.
Both paragraphs above are the Department of Environment’s own published wording for this band, not our summary of it.
The reading is below 200, which is the level at which the National Haze Action Plan closes schools, kindergartens and childcare centres.
A closure is decided and announced by the education authorities, not by this index and not by this page. This page shows the reading and names who decides. Check the announcement channels below, and your own school.
The National Haze Action Plan sets the level, but the plan itself routes the decision through the disaster management committee, and the closure order comes from the education authorities. These are the bodies involved:
Steady — little changed over the last 12 hours, reading 80 now.
The highest reading in the last 24 hours was 80, at 24 Aug, 9:00 am.
| Hour | API | Band |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Aug, 9:00 am | 80 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 8:00 am | 80 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 7:00 am | 80 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 6:00 am | 79 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 5:00 am | 79 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 4:00 am | 79 | Moderate |
The reading is taken at the Department of Environment's monitor at Balai Polis IPD Sibu, the district police headquarters on Jalan Abang Openg, about 2.7 km north-north-east of the town centre. DOE classes the site as sub-urban. It is the only official monitor for Sibu, so the number describes the air a couple of kilometres from the middle of town rather than the air on your own street — close enough to be the right number to watch, far enough that it is worth knowing.
Haze arrives across a whole region rather than at one town, so the stations nearby are worth a look — they are often where tomorrow’s reading here is today.
The highest reading in the state right now is IPD Serian, at API 192.
| Station | API | Band |
|---|---|---|
| Sarikei — 38 km west-south-west, downriver on the Rajang | 79 | Moderate |
| Sri Aman — 126 km south-south-west, on the road towards Kuching | 158 | Unhealthy (for sensitive group) |
| Samarahan — 175 km west-south-west, near Kuching | 171 | Unhealthy (for sensitive group) |
| IPD Serian — 187 km south-west, in the division that borders Kalimantan | 192 | Unhealthy (for sensitive group) |
| Kapit — 126 km east-south-east, upriver on the Rajang | 75 |
The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre counts fire hotspots from satellite passes across the region each day. These are the counts from the most recent pass:
| Region | Hotspots | |
|---|---|---|
| Sabah and Sarawak | 4 | NOAA20 pass, 23 August |
| Kalimantan | 145 | NOAA20 pass, 23 August |
A hotspot is a heat signature detected in one satellite pass. The count says how many were seen, not who lit them, not whether any particular fire is what you can smell, and nothing about where the smoke will go next. Cloud cover hides hotspots, so a low count is not proof of a quiet day.
How this number works
The API is the Department of Environment’s own index. It is the highest of seven sub-indices — sulphur dioxide, PM10, PM2.5, ozone over 8 hours and over 1 hour, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide — so it reports whichever pollutant is worst rather than an average of them. For the fine particles that haze is made of, the sub-index is a 24-hour running average, which is why the number moves slowly, and why it can stay high for a while after the smoke visibly thins. It describes health risk, not visibility.
At 4 p.m. on 12 August 2026, Tebedu read 212 and Serian 202. A hundred and seven schools in the Serian division were closed, and the Deputy Premier — who chairs the state disaster management committee — announced it. By 5 p.m. Serian had eased back to 198. So the same evening produced a reading above 200, a reading below it, and a closure: the level is what starts the conversation, and a committee is what ends it. That is why this page will never tell you whether school is on.
The Natural Resources and Environment Board Sarawak publishes Tebedu, Lundu, Lubok Antu, Lawas and Bario alongside the DOE stations. Tebedu is the one that crossed 200 on 12 August, and it sits on the Kalimantan border — which is why the NREB table is worth opening when the reading here is climbing, even though its numbers for Sibu are the same DOE numbers, published about an hour later.
On the satellite pass of 12 August 2026 the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre counted 29 fire hotspots across the whole of Sabah and Sarawak, and 292 across Kalimantan. That is what transboundary haze means in practice, and it is also why the reading here can climb on a day when nothing local is burning.
ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre, daily hotspot counts
During haze the API is driven by fine particles, and the particle sub-index is a 24-hour running average. So the index keeps climbing for hours after the smoke arrives, and stays high for hours after the air has visibly thinned. If the sky looks better than the number, both can be true at once.
Air Pollutant Index readings: Department of Environment Malaysia (MyEQMS / APIMS). Fire hotspot counts: ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC).
Source: Department of Environment Malaysia (MyEQMS / APIMS), checked 13 August 2026 (2 weeks ago).
| 24 Aug, 3:00 am | 79 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 2:00 am | 79 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 1:00 am | 78 | Moderate |
| 24 Aug, 12:00 am | 78 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 11:00 pm | 78 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 10:00 pm | 77 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 9:00 pm | 77 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 8:00 pm | 76 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 7:00 pm | 75 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 6:00 pm | 74 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 5:00 pm | 73 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 4:00 pm | 74 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 3:00 pm | 72 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 2:00 pm | 72 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 1:00 pm | 73 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 12:00 pm | 75 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 11:00 am | 77 | Moderate |
| 23 Aug, 10:00 am | 80 | Moderate |
the Sibu station, at the district police headquarters
| Moderate |
| Mukah — 68 km north-north-east, on the coast | 97 | Moderate |