As the major synoptic system, cold air events influence the water vapor and heat exchanges between lake and atmosphere by changing the meteorological conditions of air masses over the lake. Then biophysical and biogeochemical cycles in the lake ecosystem would be moderated by cold air passage. Based on dataset of the Taihu Eddy Flux Network observed during the five cool seasons (2012-2017), the effects of different cold air events (cold wave, severe cold air events and strong cold air events) on latent and sensible heat fluxes were quantified on the large subtropical shallow Lake Taihu. The results showed that cold wave, severe cold air events and strong cold air events totally happened 4, 11 and 33 times, and lasted for 14, 31 and 78 days, respectively. The sensible and latent heat exchanges between lake and atmosphere were accelerated significantly by the passage of cold air. The sensible heat flux increased by 10.3, 6.0 and 4.3 times during cold wave, severe cold air events and strong cold air events, respectively. The latent heat flux was increased by 4.0, 2.1 and 2.7 times, respectively. Although cold air passage only occupied 16.4% of entire cool season, the cold air events contributed 34.9% and 51.7% of the total latent and sensible heat fluxes, respectively. Moreover, the strong cold air events were the biggest contributor. During cold air events, the temperature gradient between the air and water is the most significant factor governing the sensible heat exchange rate. While, the latent heat flux is mostly dominated by wind speed. Compared to deep lakes, shallow lakes response faster to cold air activities. Therefore, the latent and sensible heat fluxes of shallow lakes increase much more, especially during cold waves.