Cluster Analysis identified major differences between the rainfall-runoff erosion event on 26 July 2000 and other rainstorm events. The time of runoff yield in this rainstorm event was not the longest, but the peak flow, total flow and suspended sediment transport rates were all in the largest category. Flood duration is one of the main factors affecting the type of rainstorm erosion events in the basin. Specifically, the rainstorm duration was short during this rainstorm event, and rainfall intensity changed quickly. Rainfall intensity exceeded the soil infiltration rate, which makes rainstorms generate infiltration-excess runoff and form peak flow and then cause severe soil erosion. However, the two rainstorms (23 June 1998 and 28 June 2008) both occurred in June, they have similar rainfall duration, and the total runoff amounts were 16051.6 and 16774.8 m3, respectively. The difference of these indexes is small in the two rainstorm-erosion events, but there is a major difference for the modulus of sediment yield, they are 379.8 and 168.6 t/km2, respectively. Firstly, the large-scale returning farmland project was implemented on the Loess Plateau in 1997, by 2008 the preliminary governance results were achieved, so the total runoff amount may be large, but the sediment yield decreased due to vegetation interception. This indicates that the regulation of soil and water conservation measures on spatio-temporal scale effects of the rainstorm-erosion process is the key to control sediment output from the basin73. At the same time, the increase of vegetation coverage will increase rainfall interception74, reduce the kinetic energy of raindrops75, weaken rainfall erosivity76, and reduce runoff and sediment yield77. Secondly, the main reason for the sediment yield difference between 1998 and 2008 cannot be fully attributed to afforestation and grass planting. Because in this case the amount of rainfall, rainfall intensity and peak flow may play important roles in the large difference of sediment yield modulus. The high intensity and short duration of heavy rainstorms are the main factors accelerating storm runoff erosion in this watershed. Previous studies indicate that gully erosion cannot be effectively controlled by vegetation measures in the loess hilly areas with high valley density and deep dissected valleys78. Although vegetation cover significantly increased and soil erodibility significantly decreased with vegetation development and age of restoration, soil infiltration rates decreased. Thus the runoff coefficient and the runoff volume both increased, then the watershed gully erosion and sediment yield also increased27. Similarly, Xu et al. (2017) and Wu et al. (2017) both found that soil loss increased with increased rainfall intensity79,80.