Single engine IFR - Instrument Departure: 300' ceiling 2Km vis (AIP ENR 1.5 4.4, 4.4.2) - wether this is below your personal minimums or not is up to you.
If you look at the SPECI, he probably had this. If the pilot was IFR
BUT UTR's caution about the location of the automatic WX station location and DF's comment that there can be significant local weather variations should be noted.
The weather started to improve significantly only about 30 min later. Sometimes there is great value in a cup of coffee.