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A cold wind whips at Marilee Dishon and her 2-year-old granddaughter, Eva Fuemmeler, as the pair head into Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church for an Easter service. Eva refused to wear her Easter dress because of the cold weather.

The parking lot at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church overflowed Sunday with worshippers coming to celebrate one of the most important holidays in Christianity.

The calendar said Easter. The thermometer said Christmas.

The large holiday crowd forced families to park in the far corners of the lot. Some people casually walked to the door in coats. Others jogged through cars, holding arms tight to squeeze every last bit of warmth out of a dress better suited for an April Easter.

Marilee Dishon rushed her 2-year-old granddaughter, Eva Fuemmeler, to the door while fighting the wind to hold Eva’s hood around her neck. Ms. Dishon laughed off the cold weather, but red-faced Eva had a tear in her eye.

“She didn’t want to put on her Easter dress,” Ms. Dishon said. “It’s too cold for her, so we put her in jeans.”

Temperatures hovered just above freezing as worshippers flocked to morning services across town. Some forecasts from the previous week had called for snow. Fortunately for the holiday crowds, the skies stayed clear. But the wind canceled out the sunny day with wind chills that were below freezing until afternoon.

Molly Shutt said she would not let the cold affect her family’s plans to hunt Easter eggs later in the day.

“We’ll still be outdoors, we’ll just bundle up,” she said.

Ms. Shutt’s daughter, 6-year-old Sophey, wore a coat over her Easter dress to keep warm. Despite cold wind that blew Sophey’s hat across the sidewalk, she said the weather wasn’t that bad.

“It’s not like Christmas. It’s like Halloween,” she said.

A glance at the calendar partially explains the cold weather. Easter Sunday came historically early this year. The holiday will not fall on such an early date again until March 23, 2160. The last time Easter landed on the date was 1913.

Business reporter Clinton Thomas can be reached at clintonthomas@npgco.com.