An upper level low moved into the Southern Plains during the evening of January 17th, before lifting northeast into the Central Plains during the daytime hours of the 18th. Warm, moist, and unstable air had spread north across East Texas, North Louisiana, and Southwest Arkansas during the 17th-18th, east of a surface low that ejected northeast from North Texas into Eastern Oklahoma. The instability was maximized by daytime heating across the extreme Eastern Texas, North Louisiana, and Southern Arkansas on the 18th, as large scale forcing ahead of the ejecting low increased across these areas from the mid-morning through the afternoon hours. This resulted in scattered to numerous strong to severe thunderstorms, with ample shear available ahead of an approaching cold front spawning an isolated tornado in Central Columbia County before these storms exited the region to the east during the afternoon.

Thunderstorm Wind in LAFAYETTE, ARKANSAS
From 18-JAN-23 10:18:00 to 18-JAN-23 10:18:00 (CST-6)
Location: MARS HILL
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

A tree was downed near the intersection of Highway 313 and County Road 18.

Tornado in COLUMBIA, ARKANSAS
From 18-JAN-23 10:34:00 to 18-JAN-23 10:44:00 (CST-6)
Location: MT VERNON
Tornado F-scale: EF1
Property damage: 35.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph touched down near County Road 52 near Lake Columbia. There, it snapped several softwood trees before continuing onward into forested areas where it caused intermittent damage. As the tornado continued to move northeast, damage was again observed near North Mill and North Cottage Street where trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado continued on to uproot and snap trees as it crossed Washington and Neil Streets in the city of Waldo. Prior to reaching Highway 371, the tornado damaged an awning of a church, before knocking over several power poles and snapping trees across several blocks in Waldo. On the northeast side of the city limits, the tornado completely destroyed a small metal outbuilding and continued on to snap more trees at the edge of a farm before lifting.

Tornado in UNION, ARKANSAS
From 18-JAN-23 12:40:00 to 18-JAN-23 12:51:00 (CST-6)
Location: GRIFFIN
Tornado F-scale: EF1
Property damage: 130.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 107 mph touched down along Pleasant Hill Road east of Highway 15 (Haynesville Highway) and tracked generally in a northeasterly direction across Spot Attaway Road and Wesson Road, snapping and uprooting numerous hardwood and softwood trees. The most significant structural damage was observed as the tornado crossed Emma Drive west of Parkers Chapel Road. Here, two double-wide manufactured homes were partially shifted off their cinder blocks but remained intact with no other damage. Two outbuildings were also destroyed. One outbuilding was small and entirely made out of wood, but its 2x4 vertical support boards were driven 3 feet into the ground during construction and mostly remained in place. The other outbuilding was much larger and consisted of a metal roof and frame, which was twisted to a great degree. The expected wind speeds for these two outbuildings and their degree of damage were in the low EF-2 range. However, given the all-wood construction of the first building and its support beams remaining partially buried, and a distinct lack of widespread tree damage in the immediate vicinity, the estimated wind speeds were lowered, resulting in an EF-1 rating, which was also more consistent with the vast majority of the damage observed.
The tornado continued northeast across Parkers Chapel Road and through a couple of neighborhoods south and east of Parkers Chapel School. Widespread snapping and uprooting of large softwood pine trees occurred in this area. Structural damage in this area was caused by the falling trees rather than the tornado itself. One uprooted tree fell through a single-wide manufactured home occupied by three people when the tornado struck. Fortunately, no injuries occurred in this home.
More snapped and uprooted softwood trees were observed as the tornado crossed Lynn Drive, Evans Drive, Ables Drive, Rilla Street, Oleta Avenue, Wotapi Street, and Highway 15. The tornado began to weaken as it continued northeast out of the Parkers Chapel community but snapped another softwood tree north of Buchanan Road east of Highway 15 before finally lifting near the intersection of Highway 15/Highway 82 on the southwest side of El Dorado.