My 96 run's at about the 1/4 mark while going down the road, A/C on or not. Stopped at idle it will creep up to a tad ( about a pointer width) above the 1/2 mark before the pri. fan comes on, that's without the A/C on in 110 degree Phoenix day.....I have a stock 180 degree T-Stat and a 108K miles WP. With the A/C on I have never seen it go any higher than the tad above the 1/2 way mark. Now, When the pri. fan went out the gauge would get almost into the red before the sec. fan kicked in, that was scary, but it never over heated and always cooled off when I got moving again. I also noticed that it would stay a little cooler if I kept the RPM's up to around 1800-2000 mark if I was just creeping along which makes sense with a mech. driven WP.
If you are concerned about the temp's, start it up and let it sit with the hood open and just let it heat up, you will get a good idea of how the fan's work, at least the pri. , as I have never seen my sec. fan run when I have done this, and what looks 'normal' for your gauge/car.