Abstract: Focusing on characteristics and causes of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Extreme Rainfall Events (TCERs) over Hainan Island, the spatial distribution and temporal variation characteristics and possible causes of TCERs from 1958 to 2013 were investigated through the combination of climate statistics and weather diagnosis using station daily rainfall data over Hainan Island provided by the National Meteorological Information Centre, TC best track data from Shanghai Typhoon Institute and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. The results show that TCERs over Hainan Island occur frequently in the northwest half, and less in the southeast half. From the long-term trend, regardless of the rainfall amount or the frequency, the extreme trend of TCERs is increasing.Adequate southwest water vapor flux transport is an important condition for generating TCERs. When the distance between the South Asia High (SAH) and the Northwest Pacific Subtropical High (NWPSH) is closer, that is, the SAH is stronger to the east and the NWPSH is stronger to the west, TCERs occur more easily. With the configuration of TC track and low-level wind structure, the topography plays a key role in the TCERs.