Check the National Weather Service site for historic TAF/METAR data at:
https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KPNE.html
From 12/19 18:54 Eastern Standard Time through noon today sky condition clear
12/19 18:54 N 6 10.00 Fair CLR 34 21 41 34 59% 29 NA 30.26 1024.8
...
12/20 11:54 NW 9 10.00 Fair CLR 42 21 43% 37 NA 30.40 1029.4
That said, my experience is that overcast/broken nights over areas without cutural lighting are dark, dark, dark.
My suggestion is to deviate to follow highways, overfly cities, towns. Plan it from the get-go and you lose minimal time.
IFweather was an issue in this incident, then opting to lose a little time by following any of the highways from the vicinity north of Atlantic City back to the Northeast Philadelphia airport, about 70 statute miles ete 0:35 versus 51 statute 0:25, which proved fatal.
If you're enroute and going lower and slower for weather, it's time to stop enroute or return to the starting point. Following that rule will go a long way to retiring after decades and thousands of hours of flight time... in my experience.