diff --git a/simgear/environment/metar.cxx b/simgear/environment/metar.cxx
index 898f76d4..9d9c944f 100644
--- a/simgear/environment/metar.cxx
+++ b/simgear/environment/metar.cxx
@@ -203,6 +203,14 @@ std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& out, const Tab& t)
     
     std::ostringstream& out2 = *(std::ostringstream*) &out;
     std::string s = out2.str();
+    
+    if (t._stops < 0) {
+        if (!s.size() || s[s.size()-1] != ' ') {
+            out << ' ';
+        }
+        return out;
+    }
+    
     auto nl = s.rfind('\n');
     if (nl < 0) nl = 0;
     int column = 0;
diff --git a/simgear/environment/metar.hxx b/simgear/environment/metar.hxx
index 3b08602b..a92bf1a5 100644
--- a/simgear/environment/metar.hxx
+++ b/simgear/environment/metar.hxx
@@ -236,8 +236,8 @@ public:
 	inline const std::vector<struct Weather> getWeather2()	const   { return _weather2; }
 
         /* Returns human-readable description. If tabtops is 0, we use tab
-        characters, otherwise we use spaces to pad to multiple of <tabstops>.
-        */
+        characters. If +ve we use spaces to pad to multiple of <tabstops>. If
+        -1 all sequences of tabs are represented by a single space. */
         std::string     getDescription(int tabstops)   const;
 
 protected: