According to Genesis, how long did the flood rains fall in the Noah’s Ark story?

According to Genesis, the flood rains fell for forty days and forty nights in the Noah’s Ark story.

Genesis 7:12 describes rain falling on the earth for forty days and forty nights after Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark. The same biblical chapter also describes the floodwaters remaining on the earth for a much longer period, so the forty-day rainfall is not the total duration of the flood.

The number forty is prominent in several biblical narratives, including Moses’ time on Mount Sinai and Israel’s years in the wilderness. In the ark account, readers sometimes confuse the forty days of rain with the entire flood chronology. Genesis gives additional time markers before the waters recede and Noah leaves the vessel.

The parallel flood account in the Epic of Gilgamesh uses different measurements and timings, making the forty-day figure specific to the Genesis tradition rather than a universal flood-story detail.