Abstract: Based on the atmospheric precipitable water vapor (PWV) data retrieved by ground-based GPS in Dali from 2010 to 2014 of the JICA project of China-Japan cooperation, a comparison was made with the precipitation data in the same period. According to precipitation features, the PWV variations for three precipitation types generated by cumuliform clouds, stratiform clouds, and stratiform clouds with embedded convection were analyzed. The results show that the PWV continued to increase significantly before stratiform cloud precipitation, and continued to decrease when the precipitation approached the end stage. The PWV had a rapid and large jump during the cumuliform cloud precipitation, the time of heavy precipitation was basically consistent with the peak of the PWV. The PWV displayed the characteristics of both stratiform and cumuliform cloud precipitation, and sustained to operate at high-level during the stratiform clouds with embedded convection precipitation. The anomalous characteristics of the PWV in the above three types of precipitation can provide a reference for short-term forecast and early warning of precipitation.