According to this EPA document, only 50% of the US was unusually hot in 1936, and 60% of the US was hot in 2012.

High and Low Temperatures | Climate Change | US EPA

This document was derived from NOAA’s Climate Extremes Index (CEI.) It is trivial to demonstrate that the NOAA CEI is wrong.

In 1936, 78% of USHCN stations recorded 100 degree temperatures, compared to 58% in 2012.  Forty-four states had temperatures over 100 degrees in 1936. The CEI shows accurate numbers for 2012, but the 1936 numbers are massively understated. The average peak temperature of the 78% over 100 degrees in 1936 was an incredible 108 degrees.

But it is worse than it seems – the 1936 temperatures were not just over 100 degrees, but they were way over 100 degrees. In 1936, 24% of the US reached 110 degrees – compared to only 4% in 2012.

During the…