Abstract: Northeast China (NEC) has frequent flood disasters and significant spatial distribution differences in precipitation. To reveal precise precipitation characteristics in NEC, the hourly precipitation dataset from 1 611 national and regional automatic weather stations over NEC in warm seasons (May to September) from 2009 to 2021 was used. First, the spatial distribution of precipitation amount, frequency, intensity, and duration was investigated. The characteristics of intensity structure in different regions and the relationship between precipitation characteristics and altitude in representative regions were studied via the E-index fitting method. Then, the diurnal characteristics of precipitation and precipitation events with different durations over four typical regions in NEC were analyzed based on the peak time of precipitation frequency. Finally, the symmetry of precipitation in NEC was examined, and the asymmetry and temporal evolution characteristics of precipitation characteristics in two typical regions were synthesized and analyzed based on the peak time of heavy precipitation events. The results are as follows. (1) The precipitation amount and frequency in NEC show a distribution of “more in the east and less in the west” pattern. Hourly precipitation intensity is stronger in plains than in mountains. Both precipitation amount and frequency increase as the altitude rises. Particularly, although precipitation over Greater Khingan Mountain is relatively weak, both precipitation amount and frequency decrease with increasing altitude. (2) A single afternoon peak in both precipitation amount and intensity appears for most stations in NEC, which is dominated by short-duration strong precipitation. In NEC plain and Changbai Mountain regions, the diurnal peak of precipitation frequency occurs during the midnight and early morning, with long-duration weak precipitation mainly observed in the Changbai Mountain area. (3) Based on the composite analysis of the peak time of hourly precipitation, asymmetry is found before and after the peak of strong precipitation events in NEC, where precipitation can reach the peak quickly and maintain for a long time after reaching the peak. However, the asymmetry of precipitation evolution over Changbai Mountain is weaker than that of other regions.