To further understand the mechanism of runoff evolution in cold alpine catchment under climate changes, the evolution characteristics of hydro-meteorological elements in the Yangbajain Catchment from 1982 to 2013 were systematically analyzed. By incorporating glacier mass balance and groundwater storage changes into the Budyko attribution analysis equation, the contributions made by changes in each factor to runoff evolution in the catchment were assessed.The results show that precipitation, average temperature, potential evapotranspiration, runoff amount,and groundwater storage in the Yangbajain Catchment show an upward trend from 1982 to 2013, with increasing rates of 3.0 mm/a, 0.02℃/a ( p ＜0.05), 0.53 mm/a, 1.99 mm/a ( p ＜0.05), and 2.18 mm/a ( p ＜0.05), respectively. As the climate gets warm and humid, the sensitivity of runoff evolution in the catchment to changes in the hydro-meteorological elements has increased. The contribution rates of precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, underlying surface of non-glacial areas, glacier mass balance, and groundwater storage changes to runoff changes are 189%, -2.99%, -78.3%, 20.9%, and -28.7%, respectively. Improvement in vegetation growth and degradation of frozen soil are important factors causing changes in the underlying surface in the catchment, with contribution rates to runoff changes of -27.9% and -50.4%, respectively.