According to the biblical Noah’s Ark story, how long did the rain fall?

According to the biblical Noah’s Ark story, rain fell for forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:12 uses that exact phrase to describe the rainfall during the Flood.

The forty-day period refers specifically to the continuing rain. Genesis also gives other time spans, which can cause confusion: the waters prevailed on the earth for 150 days, and the whole account records a much longer interval from the Flood’s beginning to Noah’s departure from the ark. Thus, forty days is not the same as the total duration of the Flood.

The number forty has recurring importance in biblical narratives, often marking a substantial period of testing or transition. Examples elsewhere in the Bible include Moses’ forty days on Mount Sinai and Israel’s forty years in the wilderness. In Genesis, the rain begins after Noah, his family, and the animals enter the ark.