Abstract: The rainfall pattern from 1951 to 2017 in the Nanjing Meteorological Station was analyzed using fuzzy recognition method, Chicago method and Pilgrim ffamp; Cordery method. The analysis was based on one-minute-resolution rainstorms that lasted 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min. The results indicated an increasing trend of the maximum daily rainfall in the past 67 years. The annual number of rainstorm days obviously increased in the recent 30 years. All the three methods identified a single-peak rainfall pattern, and the rainfall peak time was usually located in the first half of the rainfall event, i.e., the front middle of the rainstorm process. The single-peak pattern derived from the Chicago method showed that the instantaneous rain intensity increased followed by a decrease. The accumulated precipitation of rainstorm pattern with return period of 2 year ranged from 33.26 to 55.21 mm.The Pilgrim ffamp; Cordery analysis indicated that two or more rainfall peaks often occurred in the rainstorms that lasted over 90 minutes. The accumulated precipitation obtained from the Pilgrim ffamp; Cordery method was less than that from the Chicago method.However, compared with other two methods, temporal distribution of rainfall intensity identified by the Pilgrim ffamp; Cordery method was closer to the actual rainfall situation. The suitable method for rainfall pattern analysis should be selected according to our own needs in the business application.