With the increasing of the variability of extreme precipitation events, the extreme flood and drought events in the Dongting Lake Basin have already seriously threatened the harmony relationship of human and water. Based on the daily precipitation records of 28 national meteorological stations in the Dongting Lake Basin from 1961-2015, a threshold defined by the RClimDex model was used to identify extreme precipitation events. The methods of linear regression and ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) were employed to quantitatively analyze the temporal variability and spatial distribution of extreme precipitation indices. The intrinsic mode function (IMF) components of six extreme precipitation indices by EEMD in the Dongting Lake Basin reflect quasi-periodic periods of 3-6a, 8-15a and 21-27a. The results show that: the peak of extremely heavy precipitation occurred in June, and the extreme precipitation occurrenced during April to October, accounted for 82.7% of the total annual rainfall. Nanyue and Anhua with a high incidence of extreme precipitation and all extreme precipitation indices showed a slight upward trend in the Dongting Lake Basin except for the number of consecutive wet days (CWD). The spatial distribution in the southeast of the basin showed a significant upward trend of extreme precipitation, which is affected by the mountainous topography. The study on the variation characteristics of extreme precipitation events in the Dongting Lake Basin will be of important reference value to the water resources utilization and water security early-warning.