Space Weather has this photo of the sun showing a sudden outbreak of spots.
The Sunspot number is 181. Could this be the restart of the climb to the predicted solar cycle maximum? This might create a solar cycle with twin peaks. Stay Tuned.
Update (12:45, 01-06-13) Here is a comparison of past solar cycles. Note the double top on Cycle 23 in red below.
The effect of the double top was to lengthen the solar cycle. According to some scientist, the longer the cycle the cooler the climate on earth. Historic climate records support that view in some areas. 
If we have double top on Solar Cycle 24, which is relatively low sunspot cycles, it will stretch the length in years and could result in even more cold. Stay Tuned.
Looks like chickenpox to me…
What does an episode of ‘twin peaks’ portend as far a earth’s weather is concerned – solar wind, flares, etc?
George,
I have added some information in a update that should answer your question. A twin top lengthens the cycle and longer cycles have produced colder climates. Couple that with a low solar cycle, there could be even more cold. Stay Tuned.
Well that depends on whether you go with the idea of aliens, or demons… I wish they had continued that series so one could find out!
Even though there is a continuous record going back hundreds of years, I suppose there’s no way to determine if there were double peaks during the LIA?
Otter,
You ask an interesting question. Hard to determine the peaks, but the length of the cycle is known.
Otter,
From the abstract of this paper: Long-term Variability in the Length of the Solar Cycle, by Michael L. Rogers, etal.
The median trace analysis suggested that the cycle length had a period of 183 – 243 years, while the more precise power spectrum analysis identified a period of 188 pm 38 years. We found that the 188-year cycle was consistent with the variation of sunspot numbers and seems to be related to the Schwabe Cycle. We found a correlation between the times of historic minima and the length of the sunspot cycle such that the length of the cycle was usually highest when the actual number of sunspots was lowest. The cycle length was growing during the Maunder Minimum when there were almost no sunspots visible on the Sun.
What is “a period of 188 pm 38 years.”? Also, the solar cycle history is not that long – e.g. no more than, say, 250 years – can you point us to where this time series is available of which the power spectrum was computed?
George I think 188 pm 38 means 188 + or – 38 years. Took me a while to figure it out.
Here is a link the the whole paper, which I have yet to study:
http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0606426.pdf