Abstract: Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of tropical cyclone (TC) precipitation are investigated in the present study over Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces, where TCs frequently make landfall, using hourly precipitation observations collected at national ground surface weather stations and the objective synoptic analysis technique of TC.The results show that the averaged track of TCs from 6 hours pre-landing to 24 hours after landing appears to move northwestward and the accumulated precipitation is characterized by an asymmetric distribution, which is consistent with the water vapor convergence area.The rainbelt is parallel to the coastline and the rainfall distribution from 24 hours to 48 hours after the TC landing is closely related to effects of Poyang Lake and local topography.The distribution of precipitation changes significantly with the inland moving of TCs.Heavy rainfall is concentrated in Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces and expands to inland areas that are even beyond the two provinces after landing.The cluster analysis of TC landfall locations indicates that all types of TC precipitation are the heaviest from 12 hours pre-landing to 6 hours after landing.However, rainfall distribution and evolution characteristics of different types of precipitation vary notably due to the influence of local topography and the location of TC circulation.Statistical analysis of hourly heavy rainfall reveals that high frequency of heavy rainfall appears in the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces from 6 hours pre-landing to 6 hours after landing, and concentrates along the border of the two provinces due to the precipitous terrain in this region.Hourly precipitation extremes caused by landing TCs in the two provinces vary from 10 mm to 143 mm, while most are between 30 mm and 60 mm.Stations with hourly precipitation of more than 50 mm are mainly located over coastal areas and along the border of Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces.The distribution of extreme hourly precipitation is consistent with that of hourly heavy rainfall frequency.