Evaluating the rainfall interception capacity of vegetation canopies is an important component of water cycling in ecological systems. We employed a model of atmospheric rainfall interception by vegetation canopies with observed precipitation data from weather stations and MODIS leaf area index (LAI) data to quantitatively estimate the rainfall interception capacity of the vegetation canopy at a small-medium basin scale in the Guangdong province from 2004 to 2012 and reveal its spatial and temporal variation. The results showed that: (1) the annual mean rainfall interception rate of the canopy (RIRC) in Guangdong Province declined continuously during 2004-2012 but increased slightly in 2016. The spatial variability of RICR has diminished progressively as time goes on. (2) The RICR in Guangdong Province presented distinctive spatial patterns and was higher in the east and west mountain areas but lower in the central mountain and coastal areas. This spatial pattern was closely related to the spatial pattern of LAI, which mainly presented a ring pattern that increased from the Pearl River Delta to the periphery, but was not very related to the spatial pattern of rainfall, which showed a gradual decreasing trend from south to north. (3) The forest coverage rate had a certain impact on the canopy interception capacity, especially the areas of broad-leaved forest in the basins.