2012 ranked in the bottom half of years for record temperatures. The graph below shows the sum of record daily maximums and minimums for all GHCN HCN stations which have been continuously active since at least 1920.
1936 had more than twice as many extreme temperatures as 2012.
2012 also saw the fewest tornadoes on record and the longest streak since the Civil War without a major hurricane strike.
NOAA says that 2012 was the second most extreme year in US history, because they are completely FOS.