According to Genesis, how long was the Ark’s rain described as falling?

According to Genesis, rain fell on Noah’s Ark for 40 days and 40 nights.

Genesis 7:12 gives this duration after Noah, his family, and the animals entered the Ark. The phrase is one of the best-known time periods in the Flood story and is repeated in related biblical traditions as a symbolic period of testing and transformation.

The 40-day rainfall should not be confused with every time measurement in the narrative. Genesis also describes the waters prevailing for 150 days, and the entire process from the Flood’s beginning until the ground became dry lasted much longer than 40 days. Those figures refer to different stages of the story.

The number 40 has wider biblical significance. Other passages associate it with journeys, wilderness periods, and preparation, including the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness. In the Ark account, however, the specific answer concerns the duration of the rain, not the total duration of the Flood.