Based on the daily temperature data during years 1961—2008, the variation regularity and relationship of the extreme high temperature indices (extreme, absolute and relative threshold indices) and its response to regional warming in the Three Gorges reservoir area were analyzed, and the changing characteristics of the high temperature days of the Three Gorges reservoir area in summer and its circulation patterns in anomalous years were studied. The results showed that the interdecadal variation of the extreme high temperature indices was the same as the average annual temperature in the recent 48 years. The variation performed a downward trend before the early 1980s, and then converted to an upward trend. The yearly change shows that in the 1980s both are low and high in other years. The relative threshold indices (HWDI,WSDI and TX90p) in the low/high years all have better consistency than the annual average temperature in the linear tendency and the correlation coefficient. The correlation analysis gave great idea on the relationship of both the extreme indices and the absolute threshold indices and the extreme indices together with the relative threshold indices. However, the relationship of the extreme indices/the absolute threshold indices and the relative threshold indices is not so optimistic. The circulation patterns have the obvious difference between in hot summer years and in cool summer years．There are not continuing block highs in Okhotsk Sea and Ural Mountains, the East Asian trough become weak, the West Pacific subtropical high retreated eastward and shifted northward， and the updraft over the Tibetan Plateau is weak． These circulation patterns are advantageous to the genesis and development of the high temperature and drought in the Three Gorges reservoir area．