diff --git a/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.cc b/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.cc
index e72a761096..aa4449d2e5 100644
--- a/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.cc
+++ b/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.cc
@@ -434,6 +434,19 @@ void VarInfo::set_magic(const ConcatString &nstr, const ConcatString &lstr) {
 
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+ConcatString VarInfo::magic_str_attr() const {
+   ConcatString mstr(name_attr());
+   ConcatString lstr(level_attr());
+
+   // Format as {name}/{level} or {name}{level}
+   if(lstr.nonempty() && lstr[0] != '(') mstr << "/";
+   mstr << lstr;
+
+   return(mstr);
+}
+
+///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 void VarInfo::set_dict(Dictionary &dict) {
    ThreshArray ta;
    NumArray na;
diff --git a/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.h b/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.h
index b9d7c501af..f2801a49c0 100644
--- a/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.h
+++ b/met/src/libcode/vx_data2d/var_info.h
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ class VarInfo
 
       RegridInfo   regrid()         const;
 
+      ConcatString magic_str_attr() const;
       ConcatString name_attr()      const;
       ConcatString units_attr()     const;
       ConcatString level_attr()     const;