There oughta be a law

The National Weather Service has just issued a tornado watch for RascalLand until "12 AM," but what the hell does that mean? Noon or midnight?

Well, actually, I figure it means midnight, since it's already mid-afternoon. But still, it's the principle of the thing. There are situations in which "12 AM" might not readily be understood, like on transportation schedules and stuff like that.

I read once that neither noon nor midnight belong to AM or PM. So, why doesn't the Weather Bureau and everybody else simply refer to "noon" or "midnight" and avoid any possible confusion?

OK, call me an old crank -- but dammit anyway.