As a counterpoint, a friend and her daughter were set to tour a school on what turned out to be a very inclement day. They went anyway, were the only ones who showed up. They ended up having an informal one-on-one chat with the director of admissions the whole time!
We once foolishly traveled 4 hours and booked a hotel to make a morning college tour despite reports of bad weather on the way, only to discover a ton of snow when we got up and an email letting us know the the campus had closed. Cancel and reschedule. If anyone is paying attention, which is highly unlikely, they’ll think you’re smart!
MaterS - Which schools are you referring to and how do you know that the school definitely track interest?
I would have no problem cancelling if the weather was going to be bad. And I doubt the school’s guides enjoy taking people in around in a blizzard!
But do let the school know you’re not coming. When I cancelled a visit (by email) due to a work schedule change, someone emailed back, thanking me for the notification. They said it’s helpful to the office to know in advance exactly how many people will show up on a given day.
We canceled a tour by way of a direct reply to the school’s confirmation e-mail. Yes, there was a way to do it online, and that’s also good to do of course. However, I wanted D to explain the reason since this school was at the top of her list. An adcom replied and said she had put a note in D’s file. I don’t know if she really did that or not, but her comment made me think we had handled it the right way.
We toured Carnegie Mellon in drenching rain and it didn’t deter my son. It was also pretty typical weather for Pittsburgh! It wasn’t much better at graduation! That said both of us were turned off by the dangerously icy paths at Bard.
As to the OP, no one is going to expect you to brave dangerous driving conditions to see a college. Just reschedule. It’s no biggie.