In this study, Yulin city and Yan’an city in northern Shaanxi Province were taken as the study area. Based on the diurnal dry–wet events abrupt alternation index DWAAI, the joint probability distribution of two characteristic variables of “urgency” and “alternation” of dry–wet events abrupt alternation was established by using copula function, and the characteristics of dry–wet events abrupt alternation were analyzed. DWAAI was calculated from daily precipitation data and the applicability of the index was verified. On this basis, the two characteristic variables of “urgency” and “alternation” were separated, and the appropriate marginal distribution function was selected to fit them, and the correlation between the two variables was evaluated. Finally, the appropriate copula function was selected to fit the bivariate of each station, and the joint cumulative probability and recurrence period of the two variables were calculated. The results show that the DWAAI index is suitable for the identification of dry–wet events abrupt alternation in the study area. Light and moderate dry–wet events abrupt alternation occurs more frequently, while severe events rarely occur in the study area. The frequency of severe dry–wet events abrupt alternation in Jingbian station and its northern area is greater than that in the southern area, and the risk of dry–wet events abrupt alternation of disasters in the northern area is higher. The greater the degree of “urgency” and “alternation”, the greater the joint cumulative probability and the greater the return period. The return period of severe dry–wet events abrupt alternation was more than five years, while the return period of light and moderate dry–wet events abrupt alternation was less than five years. © 2021 by the authors.