Took a 40 mile trip to somewhere, everything seemed to be fine. it was a hot day as usual (around 90*) i had the A/C blasting at max power. I took exit on the highway, drove 2 miles, arrived to my destination and I noticed a light on the left side of the dash which looked just like a radiator. The temp gauge was well over the middle. I tried to drive it to see if it would go down, drove less than quarter mile and it was about to touch red zone. Immediately parked the car. Left it there for 6 hours. I then drove the back home. it was a decently cool night. high 70s, low 80s. I didnt turn the A/C on. temp gauge stayed a tad under the middle the entire time. I got off the highway, it hit the middle, even went a tab over it. radiator light came on again. I arrived home, popped the hood while the engine was idling. The gauge went a tad over the middle and it stayed there for 5 minutes or so idling. It didnt go down or up. The fan never kicked in in that time. The radiator light came on again. I turned the car off and went home.

So what do you think my problem is? I am afraid it will overheat during the day since it gets hot but this never happened to me before. I wonder if my fan is dead.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.