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Large-scale atmospheric circulations significantly affect regional precipitation patterns. However, it is not well known whether and how these phenomena affect regional precipitation distribution in northern China. This paper reported the individual and coupled effects of El Nio-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian summer monsoon (ISM), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) on annual precipitation for the Ordos Basin, an arid and semi-arid basin, currently with major industries of coal, fossil oil, natural gas, and halite in north central China. Our results showed that ENSO and ISM exerted substantial impact on annual precipitation while the impact of PDO and AMO was relatively limited. There were 24 and 15 out of 33 stations showing significant differences (p < 0.1) in annual precipitation (from 1950 to 2013) for ENSO and ISM, respectively. The median precipitation across the basin during El Nio years was 21.49 % higher than that during La Nia years and 17.28 % higher during the positive phase of ISM years compared to the negative phase of the ISM years. The impacts of ENSO and ISM on precipitation were enhanced during a PDO cold phase but weakened in a PDO warm phase. The impact of ENSO was still enhanced by an AMO warm phase. The effects of climatic phenomena on precipitation showed a strong spatial difference in the Ordos Basin. The impact of ENSO was mostly evident around the edges of the basin while the impact of ISM decreases from south to north. The deserts (i.e., Hobq Desert and Mu Us Sandy Land) in the center of the basin were less affected by these large-scale climatic phenomena. An improved understanding of such relationships would be helpful in water resource planning and disaster management for the Ordos Basin.