Despite summer giving way to fall on Saturday, football fans and Tuscaloosa residents can expect the weather to remain pretty much the same as it has been in recent weeks.

Highs on Saturday are expected to reach the lower 90s -- about 91 or 92 on the University of Alabama campus -- with a heat index in the mid- to upper 90s, said Holly Allen, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Birmingham.

Allen suggested those planning to tailgate or attend the Crimson Tide’s home game against Texas A&M come prepared.

“If they’re going to spend much of the day outside, they definitely want to take precautions in having enough water to drink and finding a shady spot,” Allen said.

University officials are preparing to help fans beat the heat, with cooling stations planned for several areas throughout Bryant-Denny Stadium in sections D, N-8, K, GG, EE and BB.

Cooling fans will be located at the concourse level of Section N-1 and the ground level inside gates 11 and 38.

The university also is permitting those attending the game to bring their own empty water bottle that can be filled and refilled once inside the stadium.

This could possibly counter the number of heat-related health conditions that affected fans two weeks ago during the home game against Arkansas State.

Terri Snider, emergency department director at DCH Regional Medical Center, said a doctor at the first aid station in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 8 “saw a good number of fans with nausea, vomiting and weakness which are symptoms of being overheated” and sent 12 patients to the hospital.

“Heat always plays a role during the first ball games because of morning and afternoon event times, alcohol consumption and clothing choices,” Snider said. “But we have not really had any noticeable spikes in heat related illness on a daily basis.”

While average daily temperatures for the month of September have remained above 80 degrees almost every day, meteorologists predict that some respite from the heat is coming next week.

A front is creeping into West Alabama and expected to bring highs down into the upper 80s at the beginning of the week and into the low to mid-80s by week’s end.

One reason for the incessant heat has been a lack of rain, which Allen said was the result of an upper level ridge -- essentially a dome of high pressure atmosphere -- that has kept cloud cover and, with it, rain, out of the area in recent weeks.

After a July that brought 11.81 inches of rain to the Tuscaloosa area and an August with 5.61 inches, there has been just 1.8 inches of rain recorded at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport since Sept. 1.

But this is typical for Alabama in late summer, Allen said, noting that the September rainfall totals are about 0.44 inches behind normal for the month.

“It’s not too far off from what we’d expect,” Allen said. “It is normal to see a drop-off in rainfall in late September and early October.”

As of Thursday, most of Tuscaloosa County and the southern half of Alabama are experiencing no drought-like conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The monitor is a weekly map of drought conditions produced jointly by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska.

Northeastern Tuscaloosa County, near the Bibb and Jefferson county lines, is listed as “abnormally dry,” as is most of the northern part of the state.

Areas experiencing “moderate drought” conditions include parts of Lamar, Marion, Winston, Lawrence, Morgan, Cullman, Marshall, Madison, De Kalb, Jackson, Colbert and Lauderdale counties.

Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.