A freak storm that may or may not have been a tornado struck six transmission line poles between 6:30 and 6:40 p.m. Saturday, knocking five of them to the ground, and knocked out power to some 7,000 customers from Moriarty to Sandia Park, John Wheeler, general manager of the Central New Mexico Electric Co-Op, told ABQjournal.com.

Power remained out for some 4,000 customers throughout most of Sunday and was finally restored by 7:45 p.m., Wheeler said.

Wheeler said some "pretty heavy storm cells" were reported about a mile north of Interstate 40, near the so-called Graffiti Underpass, and the wind that knocked down the poles was either a tornado or a wind shear.

The poles were difficult to replace, and co-op crews -- with help from a Tri-State Transformers and Generators crew -- worked through Sunday to get the power back up and running, Wheeler said.

A couple of minor outages unrelated to the big one were reported later Sunday night, but power was restored, according to Wheeler.

The Central New Mexico Electric Co-Op, which is headquartered in Mountainair, supplies power to some 17,000 meters over a 9,000-square-mile area from Golden, N.M., to about 20 miles north of Roswell, and from N.M. 217 east to within 7 miles of Santa Rosa, said Wheeler, who works out of Moriarty.