Based on the hourly precipitation data from April to September during 1960-2019 at 9 national meteorological stations and 400 regional meteorological stations built year by year in Longnan of Gansu Province from 2008 to 2019, NCEP FNL 1°×1° reanalysis data and MICAPS data, the spatial-temporal distribution and mesoscale characteristics of short-time heavy precipitation in Longnan of Gansu Province were analyzed. The results are as follows: (1) The occurrence frequency of short-time heavy precipitation in Longnan became more from the northwest to the southeast, with two relatively concentrated areas. The short-time heavy precipitation with rainfall intensity greater than 50 mm·h^-1 occurred in Cheng county, Hui county and Kang county in the east of Longnan. The occurrence frequencies of short-time heavy precipitation and rainstorm were more in the southeast of Longnan, and for short-time heavy precipitation it was also relatively high in the mountainous areas in the northwest. (2) Since 1960, the stations occurring short-time heavy precipitation in Longnan increased slowly.The monthly variation showed a single-peak type, with the maximum in August and accounting for 37.5% of the total stations occurring short-time heavy precipitation. The ten-day variation presented a double-peak type, with two peaks in early July and early August, respectively. The stations occurring short-time heavy precipitation was the most from late July to mid-August, accounting for 47.2% of the total stations. Diurnal variation showed that there was more short-time heavy precipitation at night than in the day, there were multiple peaks. The stations occurring short-time heavy precipitation increased significantly since 15:00 BST. The diurnal peaks of short-time heavy precipitation occurred at 23:00 BST, accounting for 9.4% of the total stations. (3) The short-time heavy precipitation in Longnan was closely linked to rainstorms. The mesoscale concept modes of short-time heavy precipitation in Longnan mainly showed three types, including low vortex shear, northwest air flow following the trough moving eastward and the southwest air flow beside the sub-tropical high.