Looking to put a shelter up later this summer to get things ready for horses. How do I determine prevailing wind direction to set it correctly? Not sure if it will be a 3 sided shelter or “tunnel” style yet…
I would look up weather records for your area and observe local conditions.
In general in open country weather moves in from the west, due to how the earth turns. On the west coast weather moves in off the ocean but on the east/ middle those thunder storms and line squalls definitely also move in from the west.
That said, on the east coast you also get NorEaster winter winds that are actually a cyclone system off shore and very nasty.
And everywhere you can get artic outflow air in winter. As the polar area warms up the “polar vortex” is getting disrupted and is bulging south more often.
However local geography influences wind too. Me and my horse live in a fairly sheltered area near a mountain (similar to where I grew up with a horse) and while we get more rain, we get less wind.
40 miles east in the exurbs where I work, they get intense arctic outflow winds out of the canyon that are like a different climate belt altogether. Those come from the East actually because while they originate in the North they are following down the canyon pass that exits due East.
In general though I think you can’t go wrong orienting a 3 sided shed to the South or even the South East. Definitely not to the North.
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If I were in VA, I’d orient the opening to the south-east. I would go with a three sided shelter (not a tunnel style) with a good 3’ to 4’ overhang for heavy rain storms.
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You can likely find weather sites that will help you. The question is: what direction do the worst storms come from - not prevailing winds. The topography where I am (mountain slopes on the south/ open desert on the north) is a micro-climate for our area. The worst winds come from the WSW. At the same time, the winter sun is low in the sky in the south - helps to warm up stalls. Prevailing winds switch - but mostly from the east. But, if you really want to know - seek out some older folks in your area that have lived there for awhile. They’ll tell you about the storm of 19xx, etc. If you can find your local weather spotter - he/she can help too.
We have a barn - not a 3-side. But, what really makes the difference is the 12’ overhang along 3-sides. If you can manage a way to build that or similar on your open side - your horses will be well out of rain and have shelter from the sun when they want it.
Call your local Ag agent.
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With very few exceptions, face the shelter south. Unless you’re backed up to a cliff or mountain, the cold biting winter winds will be coming from N/NE. Facing the opening S/SW is most likely your best bet. Just use a compass.
I would say drive around and take a look at which direction everyone in the area faces their sheds/barns. When we first moved here to KY, I thought it was odd that everyone faced their open side of the shed to the direct east instead of south like where we used to be in PA. After a month here, I KNEW why. Constant wind from the south west. If I were to face my sheds south or south west like tbchick84 said just above, my horses would NEVER be out of the wind. Fine for July, awful for February. I can honestly say there’s maybe only 15-30 days in the whole year that we don’t have wind here.
@AlteredHalter has a good idea there. But that would not have worked where I am. Nearest neighbors with horses (large 75+ acre rescue/retirement horse farm) has all but one of their large run-in sheds openings face due West. I horse sat for her for several years, and I’ll simply say that here in Middle TN, West facing sheds are less than ideal. Another neighbor, they face due North. And the other place with horses close to me has them due East. So not much to be gathered from that mish mosh of shed directions.
I will say that I think wherever you put a shed, having a natural windbreak of trees or large shrubs parallel to the opening (some distance away of course) certainly help in inclement weather. I was fortunate that my farm is very old and had very mature trees along my front fields’ fence line - so I placed my shed in the upper corner of the pasture, about 30’ from the fence. Good shade in summer and does an excellent job of blocking big wind gusts.
Where to put sheds depends on your weather and if you have winters.
Here, where we have larger pastures, don’t have trees and have blizzards, is best to put sheds close to the South fences and facing South or SE.
When a blizzard hits, critters without shelters tend to drift with their behinds to the wind and snow.
Once the storm eases up, they wander around, many times just following a fence line.
That means they are driven to the South first, then just go walking.
Putting some kind of protection they will find while drifting helps them use that protection, not keep walking aimlessly in the blizzard or piling up in a South fence corner.
Where to put sheds and how to face them depends on what you want to achieve and where you live.
This is good info for CT, perhaps, but would be a catastrophe in the TN Valley where our wettest winds from from the southwest, and would blow directly into the place you want to be dry!!! 
And following the wet we get the cold from the northwest. So now you have wet horses and deep cold. Not a happy circumstance.
On the other hand in CT, where the Nor’ester is legendary, you have to worry about precip from that direction and then deep cold from the northwest. I learned this from four years in RI!
You have to look at your LOCAL conditions. There is no continental-wide “school” answer.
G.
well actually there is, build an enclosed barn rather than a loafing shed
OK, point taken. 
But for a run in, there is no continental-wide, school solution, except orient the structure as dictated by local topography and meteorological circumstances.*
G.
*Damn, I wish we got paid by the word around here!!!
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In NW Louisiana for a 2 sided run in shed I would make the solid walls on the north & west sides for winter time weather shelter. During the spring, summer and early fall all our weather comes in from the south and very rarely will anything blow in from the east.
I agree with those that are telling you that it depends on where you are and where you are does not mean what state you live in. We’re in a rural area. The NWS zipcode weather chart is useless. The zip area is too large. We’re on the north slope of a mountain. The worst storms come over that mountain from the SW and form a ‘chinook’ factor. That is the wind speeds pick up as they blow down the mountain slope. That and many other factors will determine what you will be experiencing where you live. Your decision needs to be based on what will be the worst storm pattern in your area.
Down the road from me is a new neighbor who put up a run in shed and the first time I saw it it was on it’s back side and the cows were laying about on the grass in the shade from what should have been the floor although generally run-ins don’t have any kind of flooring except a gravel pad. Lucky to get that sometimes.
Edited to add they pulled it back up today with the tractor. It was laying on it’s roof, I had gotten confused about reorienting it. DH says it was up for about two weeks and then down for the next month. The opening is still oriented towards the house or E or ESE.
They faced it towards their house or generally East and our storms come from the W and SW, My run in is on the East side of the house and faces South, it gets wind protection from the house structure, so even though we gave it a perimeter foundation to tie it down it is probably not getting much wind stress.
There are two things I can think of, one that they built it laying on the ground like that and two that their wind directions are different than mine as I live on a ridgetop and they are down in a very nice little valley. I suppose that they could have faced it SW and the wind grabbed it and flipped it over and around. It’s been like that for a month that I know.
I’m another in KY, and we sited that run in after observing for a couple of years. We have had one Easterly come through not too long ago and it was unusual, first time I had seen the rain going that way here.
Interestingly, i find that my horses will quite often head for the shelter provided by a stand of white pines in mildly inclement weather. Only if it is pouring buckets, or ice pellets, etc, do they head for the shelter. Though in the summer, they will use it to get out of the sun and away from the bugs.
There is some natural tree coverage too, and trees surround the whole perimeter, but def going to put a shelter. I asked the Ag office contact I know and she said face the opening east here. Most of this pasture is hilly, there is only one good spot for a shelter!
Your ag agent is right. Face the run-in in an E to ESE direction. That prevents entry of all but the most outrageous weather in the form of winds and rain. It also protects from scorching sun. The sun is the biggest problem in S facing sheds as it can get HOT inside the shelter in no time, and the sun is pretty consistently in the sky most days. E will give morning sun, and then shade in the heat of the afternoon. Your animals will thank you. Face the shed S and you’ll find your animals standing outside it rather than inside.
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